Okay, I'm going to try to explain something I have heard on a few occasions and found fascinating. I don't know how successful I'm going to be at doing so, but if you've also heard this, it may ring a bell with you. I've heard that each person in the world has some sort of connection with every other person in the world with just six links (or some other very small number). I'm not talking about a relationship (although SoyLeche's thread on how many of us are related made me think of this). It would work something like this:
1. I have a next-door neighbor.
2. That neighbor has a cousin who lives in California.
3. That cousin works with a man who immigrated to the U.S. from England.
4. When he was living in England, he worked at a market frequented by a young woman named Carol.
5. Carol's husband is on Queen Elizabeth's staff.
6. Queen Elizabeth was the late-Princess Diana's mother-in-law.
Therefore, there are a mere six links between me and Princess Diana.
If anybody has heard of this interesting little statistic, I'm looking for a website that discusses it in greater detail. I'd also like to find a website containing information as to how closely everyone in the world is related (as in being 20th cousins, etc.) Anybody know of one?
1. I have a next-door neighbor.
2. That neighbor has a cousin who lives in California.
3. That cousin works with a man who immigrated to the U.S. from England.
4. When he was living in England, he worked at a market frequented by a young woman named Carol.
5. Carol's husband is on Queen Elizabeth's staff.
6. Queen Elizabeth was the late-Princess Diana's mother-in-law.
Therefore, there are a mere six links between me and Princess Diana.
If anybody has heard of this interesting little statistic, I'm looking for a website that discusses it in greater detail. I'd also like to find a website containing information as to how closely everyone in the world is related (as in being 20th cousins, etc.) Anybody know of one?
