Six

strangers are six handshakes apart. here’s why.

a ring of 240 people — add 1% shortcuts, watch distance collapse

When everyone is only connected to their near neighbors, reaching a stranger takes a long chain of introductions. Add a small number of random long-distance connections and that chain collapses dramatically — not because anyone knows more people, just because a few links now cut straight across the network instead of only going around it.

Concepts: networks, social-graphs.

An interactive you play with one thumb, on Wundr.