Have you ever felt like we live in a "small world"?

Question

Why do you come to this conclusion?

Answer 1

Sometimes, when flying from continent from continent or talking to people online.

Other times, it seems endless, like when walking in a large forest, or hiking in the mountains, or crossing the sea on a boat.

Answer 2

Well, I almsot always think I have seen every person somewhere before..perhaps because despite what people tell you, people do all look alike. So it automatically feels smaller.

Then, consider the fact that there are only 6 billion people in the world, a large majority of which lives in either China or India. This leaves the rest of the world with smaller numbers that make you feel like the world isn't such a big place afterall.

Also, you can fly across the country in a matter of hours, and around the world in only a few more, which makes it even easier to travel and shrinks it more. Think of our ancestors who took weeks on horseback/buggy to go from state to state, or even months to walk from place to place- the world seemed bigger to them because it actually took forever to travel.

Combine all those factors with the fact that we only have around 80 years to live, and the world seems even smaller and even a bit confining, not to mention sad as you only get to walk this earth for a handful of years.

Answer 3

Of course -

All the times that you meet someone and find out that they also know someone that you know very well - a family member, a friend, etc.

You meet someone in a random place that turns out to be in the same field of work and knows all the same people and things that you know.

How one person can touch your life that you may have never met.

You and I may even have a common person in our life!:)

Six degrees of separation - refers to the idea that human beings are connected through relationships with at most six other people. Several studies, such as Milgram's small world experiment have been conducted to empirically measure this connectedness. While the exact number of links between people differs depending on the population measured, it is generally found to be relatively small. Hence, six degrees of separation is somewhat synonymous with the idea of the "small world" phenomenon.

Answer 4

Yes.

I lived in Toronto, Canada and I belonged to a small community. On a road trip to Missouri, I saw another person who belonged to that same community but I hadn't seen in over 2 years.

It seems like a small world when you travel large distances but meet people whom you've known from a small place.

Answer 5

Yes, I often experience small world situations, such as meeting someone who lived where I once lived or knows a good friend of mine from long ago.

Answer 6

A lot of times. Particularly when I'm on a trip somewhere far away and I am telling someone where I'm from, which is a very small town in Northwestern PA, and it turns out that they know someone I know or have been to my hometown before.

Answer 7

Hell yeah.
i have a friend from Melbourne who went to London for a working holiday. As she was sitting in Kensingsome dingy pub, someone tapped her on the shoulder. It was her ex-boyfriend from back home in Australia, who had been living in Sydney, was on a working holiday himself, and had had no idea that my friend had left for London only a week before him!!
Of all the places to see someone you know from halfway around the world!

Answer 8

The feeling of living in a "small world" comes from our own perception of self containment.

If we believe that we are infinite then that feeling is never experienced.

Answer 9

i really do somethimes i feel like the world is not big enough, everybody know someone you know and you always meet up with someone from you past like weather their a friend, ex, or family member but you always go somewhere and see someone you know. is this world really big or small

Answer 10

And the sad thing is that its only getting smaller due to over population.