I'm sure most of us have at the very least heard some mention of the Six Degrees Of Separation thing. I've taken some interest in this, but I've never been able to understand the mathematics of it, much more find someone who can explain it to me without my brain going into hemorrhage mode (maybe I should ask my Math profs though). Anyway, math or no math, I take comfort in the idea that there is a mere six-degree distance that stands between me and any random person in this world.
It's surely beneficial in the stalkerly stages that we (or is that just me and my friends?) happen to have at some point when we start to have crushes. (Don't worry, I'm not a psycho. I don't hide out and creepily stalk my crushes for the rest of their lives. I introduce myself to them, at some point. I'm still sane, just a bit shy.) It's just good to know that the chances of actually getting to know that person aren't all too small.
Aside from stalkerly ulterior motives, it's also great for idolatry purposes. Chris Martin and I are six degrees closer to a Viva La Vida duet, Obama and I could possibly bond over our common birthday, and Luis Katigbak could share writing tips with me (oh wait, I already found his blog and he replied to my comment. Just a little more then >:D). Anyway, they all don't seem so silly now, with only six people between us, do they? Well, actually...yeah, they still do.
Seriously though, lately I've been reading up on people again, coming across blogs in impersonal Google searches about literary pieces. While looking for online copies of stories or essays, I've come across people's websites, and to my amazement, these people are friends, contacts, or family of my friends, profs, and acquaintances. Talk about shared interests.
Maybe it's just the Internet, or maybe my personal space is just limited. But I'd like to think that the world is quite small, after all. I believe in the invisible threads that link us all. In the six degrees theory, it's our relationships. But more than that, I believe in the threads that are our stories, our passions, and the things that piss us off; our secret deepest darkest thoughts; our silly hopes and crazy dreams—at the very core we are all connected. Like lines in Algebra, we intersect. At some common point, and by six degrees or less.
I don't feel like such a hermit anymore. Sometimes I feel like I'm isolated from the rest of the world around me. But I only have to think of the six degrees and know that it's not such a detached life after all.
It's surely beneficial in the stalkerly stages that we (or is that just me and my friends?) happen to have at some point when we start to have crushes. (Don't worry, I'm not a psycho. I don't hide out and creepily stalk my crushes for the rest of their lives. I introduce myself to them, at some point. I'm still sane, just a bit shy.) It's just good to know that the chances of actually getting to know that person aren't all too small.
Aside from stalkerly ulterior motives, it's also great for idolatry purposes. Chris Martin and I are six degrees closer to a Viva La Vida duet, Obama and I could possibly bond over our common birthday, and Luis Katigbak could share writing tips with me (oh wait, I already found his blog and he replied to my comment. Just a little more then >:D). Anyway, they all don't seem so silly now, with only six people between us, do they? Well, actually...yeah, they still do.
Seriously though, lately I've been reading up on people again, coming across blogs in impersonal Google searches about literary pieces. While looking for online copies of stories or essays, I've come across people's websites, and to my amazement, these people are friends, contacts, or family of my friends, profs, and acquaintances. Talk about shared interests.
Maybe it's just the Internet, or maybe my personal space is just limited. But I'd like to think that the world is quite small, after all. I believe in the invisible threads that link us all. In the six degrees theory, it's our relationships. But more than that, I believe in the threads that are our stories, our passions, and the things that piss us off; our secret deepest darkest thoughts; our silly hopes and crazy dreams—at the very core we are all connected. Like lines in Algebra, we intersect. At some common point, and by six degrees or less.
I don't feel like such a hermit anymore. Sometimes I feel like I'm isolated from the rest of the world around me. But I only have to think of the six degrees and know that it's not such a detached life after all.
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