6-degrees of Kevin Bacon
I don’t always have time to read, and my drive to and from work is a minimum of at least 30 minutes each way, so I listen to several audio books on my Ipod. Recently I downloaded the audiobook The Tipping Point
by Malcolm Gladwell from iTunes. I highly recommend this book! I have been having trouble turning it off in the morning when I get to work.
The Tipping Point uses real world examples, scientific data, and situations to show you how ideas, products and people become contagious subjects in our lives. I’ve only finished the first two chapters and find myself bewildered by the psychology behind the human attention span and social relationships.
The work done with children to produce Sesame Street and Blue’s Clues is one of the most fascinating things I think that I have ever heard. If you want to know the secret behind teaching young preschoolers how to read, in my opinion this chapter alone is worth the price of the book.
One other example listed early in the book is the concept of 6-degrees of separation. This is a statistical concept that says you are connected to someone famous or any random person within the relationship connections of six people. Malcolm illustrates the same premise with the research done by computer scientist at University of Virginia. UV actually has a special web page devoted to showing you how connected Hollywood actors and actresses are to one another.
According to the “Oracle of Bacon” website, the late Rod Steiger is still the center of the Hollywood universe with a Bacon number of two. This means that all actors and actresses could meet Rod through the connections and relationships of just two people. Freaky! The kicker is Rod died five years ago and is still at the center.
I wonder what my Bacon number is.
Well we can’t all know or be introduced to someone famous by our close friends, but we can know them anonymously through our entertainment magazines. Check out our Entertainment and Music Category to get your subscriptions to People,
Us Weekly, OK,
In Touch, Star, and
Rolling Stone.
Sincerely,
Shawn R Pearson
Web Marketing Manager
EBSCO Reception Room Subscription Services
http://www.ebscomags.com
