Albert-Laszlo Barabsi in his
detailed book Linked: The New Science of Networks gives
compelling evidence how everything is interconnected to everything else. In
other words we are all joined together in ways that most would find
unimaginable.
The phrase “small world, big universe” comes to
mind as Barabasi through scientific and mathematical studies conducted over the
past 80+ years painstakingly proves the connection of links. To simplify his
document, one begins with nodes. Nodes are people or things that come together
through links. A node is a single object and links are a collection of nodes.
The links are based on various relationships within nature then form a cluster
or in scientific terms a network.
In thinking of the Internet computers (nodes) are
linked through phone lines (links) which form the network known as the
Internet. Barabasi study was to conclude whether the networks that are formed
(not just the Internet) random or is there some predictable way to determine
how these networks gather.
Erdos and Renyi in 1959 introduced "the
random network theory" which was held in high esteem by the scientific
community. The thinking of their time was with the complexity of networks it
had to have a random genesis and continuation because there would be no way to
figure them out through mathematical or scientific methods. (page 23)
However, enter the six degrees of separation by a
writer named Karinthy published in his short story entitled
"Chains" which states that "To demonstrate that people on Earth
today are much closer than ever, a member of the group suggested a test. He
offered a bet that we could name any person among earth's one and a half
billion inhabitants and through at most five acquaintances, one of with he knew
personally, he could link to the chosen one." (page 26)
Citing many other studies undertaken through the
years each new study has the advantage of the emerging technological advances
of the day. However, one thing that has been shown that weak ties in a social
network (the people you know, their friends) have shown to be more advantageous
than a strong tie (people you know directly) especially when it comes to
seeking employment or getting a new message out. Weak ties are able to bring in
new information where strong ties typically have knowledge of the same
information available to the seeker.
Even with humans Barabasi brings up another
argument that was pointed out by sociologist Malcolm
Gladwell in his book The
Tipping Point. Even though most people on the planet know
approximately the same number of people, there are people that are called
connectors who know many more than the average and these connectors are
important to consider when calculating the six degrees of separation.
Connectors are the folks that are strong networkers and can get a message to
more people in shorter amount of time then the average person.
The more connectors in your network the higher you
will rise in the information chain. It's the 80/20 rule applied to networks,
20% of the connectors are responsible for 80% of the connections. These
connections in networks are called hubs, because a hub is where information is
generated from, like a connector is a person to generate (network) with others.
Barabasi makes strong points backed up by empirical scientific and
mathematical evidence. The last half of the book details how these connections
work in society.