Is it true that there is six degrees of separation? I think its less?

Answer 1

The primary value of this theory is mental stimulation. If true, it is in a statistical sense. Start with an isolated jungle tribe and you may never reach the outside. Experiment with your own assumptions. If each person knows 26 people, 6 links gives you the United States. To cover that in 5 links, each person needs to know 50 people. You can work a little harder to try this with varying assumptions.

Answer 2

You might get a better response to this question if you post it under the category of math, because this really is more of a math question. Maybe even under sociology.

What I recall about this phenomenon is that it turns out not to be true, that the person who devised this theory made some miscalculations. It may be true on average, but I am sure that are cases where there are more than 6 degrees of seperation (of course with the internet that really changes things). Maybe it is less now.

I would check out wikipedia on this topic and see what it has to say.