Six Degrees of Heterophily.

Planet Earth has never been as tiny as it is now. It shrunk - relatively speaking of course - due to the quickening pulse of both physical and verbal communication. This topic has come up before, but we had never framed it quite this way. We never talked about the fact that anyone on Earth, at my or anyone's will, can now learn in just a few minutes what I think or do, and what I want or what I would like to do. If I wanted to convince myself of the above fact: in couple of days I could be - Hocus pocus! - where I want to be.

At first glance, you might assume that the quote above was something you could hear at a nearby coffee shop. However, it was actually written in 1929 by Polish poet and playwright Frigyes Karinthy in a short story called "Chains."

Frigyes Karinthy

The story goes on to propose a game:

"One of us suggested performing the following experiment to prove that the population of the Earth is closer together now than they have ever been before. We should select any person from the 1.5 billion inhabitants of the Earth - anyone, anywhere at all. He bet us that, using no more than five individuals, one of whom is a personal acquaintance, he could contact the selected individual using nothing except the network of personal acquaintances. For example, "Look, you know Mr. X.Y., please ask him to contact his friend Mr. Q.Z., whom he knows, and so forth..."

If this seems very familiar, it's because the story inspired the concept of "six degrees of separation," which proposes that everyone is linked to everyone else through just six people. Psychologist Stanley Milgram discussed this social network phenomenon in the May 1967 issue of Psychology Today, naming it the "small world problem." In his 2000 book The Tipping Point, author Malcolm Gladwell describes the phenomenon as the "Law of the Few." And then there's the well-known drinking game "Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon," wherein players try to connect Mr. Bacon to any other actor in any film within six degrees or fewer. (The term "six degrees of separation" was actually coined by playwright John Guare in his play of the same name.)

Milgram suggests that there are actually two views of the problem; the first holds that any two people in the world, no matter how remote from each other, can be linked by one or more intermediates. The second, more critical view, is that there are "unbridgeable gaps" between various groups, and that any two people that are separated by these gaps can never link up. Milgram's experiments attempted to refute this view.

On the face of things, today's social media platforms support Milgram's small world view. However, we are beginning to understand that while technology can bring us together with just a few clicks, algorithms and user behavior tend to show us content from people we already agree with, reinforcing our existing beliefs and creating a self-contained world where dissenting views are rarely, if ever, seen. So, while Milgram's idea of a global, interconnected network still holds true in a structural sense, social media is creating these "unbridgeable gaps" on a cultural and ideological level. In this sense, Milgram's concern about social fragmentation is increasingly a reality in the digital age.

Job networking today, especially on platforms like LinkedIn, often falls victim to the same forces as social media. We are enamored with the ease in which we can scroll our way through job opportunities, but the truth is that these platforms often show you posts and connections from people that are already in your network, and so the opportunities may be limited. To break through this, seek out the "weak ties." Weak ties are what sociologist Mark Granovetter says are bridges to different, more distant social circles.

• Actively connect with people from different organizations or professional backgrounds. If you're looking for a position in arts marketing and you happen upon the Technical Director for a company you want to work for, make the most of the connection.

  
  

• Be a part of the network. Instead of just networking for yourself, try to connect others. If you see a colleague looking for a new role and you know someone that might help, make a meaningful introduction. This builds social capital and positions you as a valuable hub in a wider network.

  
  

Ultimately the goal is to get out of your comfort zone, and seek out and connect with different people. The old axiom "In this business it's who you know that counts" is only true if you buy into the idea. By intentionally moving beyond your existing professional echo chamber, you can overcome the modern-day "unbridgeable gaps" and unlock a much broader range of career opportunities.