In lieu of the Australia Day Monday classes, we watched a video at home about the power of the Six Degrees of Separation. It was pretty amazing to see how the discovery of network science is opening the way for further understanding of so many different problems and areas of life.
Everything appears to be connected in ways that were absolutely unpredictable just ten years ago, or even five years ago. Professor Marc Vidal
It’s going to completely change the way we think about the world. Duncan Watts
The World Wide Web would be an obvious way that we are connected these days, yet the Six Degrees networking idea is relevant to many examples in life. The video shares how a network is often made up of hubs and nodes of various types and sizes. When I think of hubs around the world, this could be cities, schools, the local supermarket, or even a waterhole that people flock to on a hot day. These are examples of places that are a hub for people, and therefore an area where networking is at play.
Last night I was at the Melbourne Airport, and I feel a place like that gives great insight into the world as a small network. As I wandered through the International Terminal, I saw many flights on the departure board heading out to all areas of the globe. So many people were all gathered together at the airport from different countries, cultures, and social networks.
And it makes me wonder, if we gathered everyone inside the airport at one time and represented the portion of the world population that they are each connected to, imagine the number of people right across the world that would have connections with the small collection of travellers gathered here in Melbourne!
It is for this reason that the video mentions the danger of viruses breaking out in airports. If a virus is spreading at an airport, then travellers will be taking that virus over to their destinations, allowing the virus to spread across the world much quicker than if it was contained in one particular area.
Networking is an intriguing subject, and one that I’m sure will continue developing over the coming years. I will be more aware of networks around me from now on, and I’m sure I’ll be surprised at the amount of times that I notice networking at work.
For a in-depth look into the Six Degrees idea, read Esther’s post.