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From: gino@voder.UUCP (Gino Bloch)
Newsgroups: net.misc
Subject: Re: Small World Redux
Message-ID: <726@voder.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 18-Mar-85 15:40:34 EST
Article-I.D.: voder.726
Posted: Mon Mar 18 15:40:34 1985
Date-Received: Tue, 26-Mar-85 03:45:15 EST
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Organization: National Semiconductor, Santa Clara
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[ bug off! ] { I concur }

> I remember reading an article a looooong time ago, in which a mathematician
> (discussing probability) stated that you could connect any two people in
> the United States by a string of no more than 5 people 95% of the time.
> By "connected", he meant connected to another person by at least being
> reasonably well acquainted.  For example, I could (by this theory) be
> "connected" to Dan Rather because my father's neighbor's sister-in-law's
> dentist is Dan Rather's neighbor's grandson, or something like that.  (And
> 19 out of 20 times -- 95% -- you could find a string like that.)  Does
> anyone remember reading this and can quote the source?
> 
>      I always wondered how this mathematician arrived at his numbers. . .

It was an experiment.  A number of people were told that their goal was
to reach some famous person by mail.  They were to start by sending a letter
to someone they knew that they thought a likely person to have a connection.
Each such recipient was given the same instruction.  It turned out that the
average number of letters was five.  No theory here, it was measured.
There was a report in Scientific American's "Mathematical Games" column,
obviously therefore before Hofstadter, but I don't know the date.
To clarify: each subject was given the name of a specific famous person,
eg "Jacques, I'd like you to reach Henry Mancini".
(In fact I wouldn't bet money on "before Hofstadter").
-- 
Gene E. Bloch (...!{ucbvax, ihnp4!nsc, decwrl!nsc}!voder!gino)
The accidents expressed above are opinions.