Category Archives: unconnected tuesdays

unconnected tuesdays

Six Degrees Of Separation, And The Relative Importance Of Each Degree

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For a recent pyramid scheme post, I whipped up a quick little diagram showing me at the top of the pyramid, and then different levels under.

At the bottom of the pyramid, for the people who would really see no benefit from the scheme, I wrote “Some Suckers”.

This got me thinking about the popular idea of six degrees of separation, where any two individuals can be connected by a chain of acquaintances.

You can view the diagram as a representation of degrees of separation between myself and the “suckers”. For me, it not only shows the connection, but also the loss in meaningfulness as the amount of steps from one’s self to another increases.

For example, my connection to “you” is very important. As soon as I walk another step away from me, my interest in and concern for an individual sharply drops off.

So, say you tell me that your friend has been found to have a terminal form of cancer. I’d say, “Wow, that’s horrible.” But my concern would probably be more for how it affects you, than how it affects your friend. If it was a friend of a friend? I’d say, “Why are you even telling me this? I don’t know this person.” You try and tell me about a friend of a friend of a friend, and my eyes will glaze over.

We use degrees of separation every day, perhaps in situations we aren’t really aware of, or don’t want to be aware of.

Take this, for example:

Imagine the relationship of a person on a farm with a cow — what kind of connection is there? How about a person who works at a slaughterhouse? What is the connection? What is your relationship with the cow? Is it even a cow when you get to it? It’s not for me. It’s beef. The steps the cow walks to get to me are involuntary and have a very negative effect on the cow’s health.

We can say this is a small world, and that we are all connected, but how meaningful is that when the connections don’t have any weight behind them? If we don’t have extended connections that are truly meaningful, how can we combat issues like poverty, global warming, etc.? How can we be motivated if we don’t feel connected? Will we die off as a species as a result of this flaw?

Should I go become a Buddhist now?