You May Be Within 6 Degrees Of The Royal Baby!

It all started when I just happened to glance at my "people you may know" list on LinkedIn. Most of the recommendations were people with whom I shared 2 or 3 common connections. But there was one profile and photo that really stood out. Apparently, this individual and I have 53 commons friends—yet we have never met. 53 people know him and me, yet he doesn't know me, and I don't know him. Go figure.

Anyway, I never really gave it much thought until recently, but to me at least, this only makes more valid the theory of 6 degrees of separation—that everyone on the planet is just six steps (or less) removed from any other specific person. If the theory is correct, you should be able to link yourself with any other person, anywhere on earth, simply by saying you know them through a friend of a friend of a friend... etc. out to no more than 6 "friends."

For example. Last year, the King of Sweden visited my old home town, and my brother attended the luncheon thrown in the King's honor. He actually got to shake the royal hand and chat a bit with King Carl XVI Gustaf. So now the King of Sweden is just 2 degrees removed from me, and 3 degrees removed from you (assuming you can call reading a blog a valid connection). Therefore, if you think of all the people a King would know, we call be within 6 degrees of... dare I say it .... The Royal baby?

Or, how about this. While recently digging through some moldy old memorabilia I discovered a letter I received in 1990 from the late Dick Clark. The topic of the letter is not important. What's interesting is that that letter—officially signed by Dick Clark himself—put me just 1 degree away from all of Dick's connections which would include virtually every pop and rock artist of the last 40 years as well as Ryan Secrest. This then would put me just 2 degrees away from every contestant that has ever appeared on American Idol. I think I'll stop right there. You get the picture.