Six degrees of separation and six degrees of freedom
A friend mentioned the despair he was feeling about incidents such as the recent shooting in Las Vegas. Evidence to date indicates that one person amassed and modified weapons to allow him to plan and execute the mass killing of over 59 people and the injuring of over 500 people at a musical concert in Las Vegas. Even if we were not personally acquainted with any of those killed or injured, there is a strong likelihood that, as time passes, we will each discover that we knew someone who knew one or more of those killed or injured. It is easy at such a time to experience a sense of hopeless and helplessness. It is also easy, given the amount of ways we have to dispatch and receive information, to begin to feel as if us humans are becoming more violent. While it is true that manufacturing guns and other means of killing is a major piece of our economy, it is also true that statistically the world is much less violent than it has ever been. Homicides, violence against women, violence against children, and even violence in the context of wars are all being reduced worldwide. All the statistical evidence gathered by various groups confirm this fact. That is not to say that the level of remaining violence is acceptable or that mass shootings such as the one in Las Vegas or the number of gun deaths in cities such as Chicago are acceptable, but violence world-wide is decreasing year by year. For a good review of this subject the reader can go to slate.com and look for a December 22, 2014 article entitled “The World is Not Falling Apart” by Steven Pinker and Andrew Mack. There are also many primary sources which validate this information.
It is also true that our ability to touch each other in positive or negative ways is easier than ever before. Given the increasing evidence that the idea of the six degrees of separation first proposed some years ago is indeed accurate, the ability of humans to touch each other’s lives is exponentially increasing. Despite the accuracy of what Bruce Alexander calls the dislocation of globalization and which he believes is, in part responsible, for the spread of addiction, the fact is that humans are increasingly interconnected. More and more studies validate the theory that there are only six or less degrees of separation between every person in the world. Recent studies quoted in a 2016 article by Margaret Rouse entitled “Six Degrees of Separation” (whatis.com) assert that “…in 2016, researcher at Facebook reported that the social networking site had reduced the chain length of its members to three and a half degrees of separation.” Even allowing for the fact that one might get Facebook “friends” through a friend of a friend, this is still an astounding short chain length given that many Facebook users have hundreds of friends or followers.
I personally like to think of the effect of the six degrees of separation by imagining what happens when I make a very conscious decision to brighten the day of a clerk in a local green grocer. If I manage to do that and the clerk is able to receive that gesture, there is the distinct possibility that the clerk will pass along that gesture to at least 20 customers. Let’s then suppose that each of those 20 people or even one half of them receive that positive gesture and pass it along to an average to ten people in person, via phone or social media (might be more or less) then there is the possibility that 200 people have been directly affected. If those 200 people, then as a result pass along that positive gesture to an average of 10 people then 2000 people have been touched. Eventually, after six such events I have potentially touched the world.
Another example occurred in my life after I attended a conference in Boston. One of the other attendees was a doctor from Australia who was working in London. We ended up in several continuing education sessions together and struck up an acquaintance which we maintained after the conference. A couple of years later I was in London for a conference and I rang up this man to see if we could visit. He invited me to attend a brunch with him at the home of the Vicar to the Queen of England. I was now only one person away from the Queen of England. I have had many such experiences. Just the other day I was chatting with someone and we discovered that even though we had never previously met we shared connections with no fewer than 4 of the same people. Since I am not originally from this area this seems even more surprising to me. Yet, my antidotal history confirms the close interconnectedness of us humans time after time.
It is certainly true that given the flexibility of movement world- wide for a variety of reasons, there are a significant number of people who are feeling displaced or dislocated- people who have not found it possible to form close connections culturally, socially and otherwise and are thus, feeling adrift or as Bruce Alexander says, dislocated. Yet, despite mass shootings by some and the horrifying number of active addicts, the majority of individuals who are displaced or dislocated do not become addicts or mass murderers. The majority manage to hold on to important aspects of their original culture and/or find a way to create a blend of the old and the new.
When I lived, and worked in Southeast Alaska, there were a number of Native Americans who were feeling dislocated or displaced. They did not feel as if there was enough of the old culture left for them to have a sense of purpose and belonging and, yet, they did not feel as if they had a place in the Caucasian culture. On the other hand, the majority of Native Americans in that area did have a sense of belonging and purpose. Some of these individuals and families managed to hold on too many of the old customs and traditions while also learning to make a place for themselves in the new community. To be sure, given the gross mistreatment of the Native American population in Alaska this was not an easy or painless transition for anyone.
I certainly believe that we can do a better job at creating blended communities and cultures which insure that a majority of people have a sense of purpose and belonging. I also believe that using prisons as primary long term mental health or addiction facilities is counter-productive as well as cruel.
Most addicts with and for whom I have worked as a counselor report that long before they picked up their drug/addiction of choice they felt disconnected or dislocated. This seems to be true regardless of whether or not they were born into an overall well connected extended family who shared a common culture and heritage.
Perhaps in exploring more effective preventive and treatment options for those who feel dislocated or disconnected from the community at large we need to focus on how others manage to made a healthy adjustment to radical changes in their lives. There are those who seems to be able to focus on their similarities with others – on what connects them rather than on differences which could keep them separate. We are a global community which seems, on the whole, to be moving more towards what connects us – what allows us to acknowledge that we are all part of a whole. Yet, there are those individuals who do not feel able to move in that direction. Is there something more we can do to assist them to do so? Is there, as with Autism, a missing piece in the brain which prevents one from seeing the mirror image – from seeing the me in the other and the other in the me? Once again I am reminded to be very intentional about being open to asking the questions which will lead me in a direction which might be helpful in our ongoing struggle to help more of us celebrate the six degrees of separation. Perhaps we need to focus on how to strengthen the core of our being from which we can choose to experience the six degrees of freedom. (If not familiar with this concept google you tube and watch a video explaining the concept of the six degrees of freedom.) The core might have been for many a place and a culture. Perhaps we are at a place historically when we are ready to strengthen a core which is based in our interconnectedness on a universal level. Some will call this a spiritual core.
Written October 5, 2017
A friend mentioned the despair he was feeling about incidents such as the recent shooting in Las Vegas. Evidence to date indicates that one person amassed and modified weapons to allow him to plan and execute the mass killing of over 59 people and the injuring of over 500 people at a musical concert in Las Vegas. Even if we were not personally acquainted with any of those killed or injured, there is a strong likelihood that, as time passes, we will each discover that we knew someone who knew one or more of those killed or injured. It is easy at such a time to experience a sense of hopeless and helplessness. It is also easy, given the amount of ways we have to dispatch and receive information, to begin to feel as if us humans are becoming more violent. While it is true that manufacturing guns and other means of killing is a major piece of our economy, it is also true that statistically the world is much less violent than it has ever been. Homicides, violence against women, violence against children, and even violence in the context of wars are all being reduced worldwide. All the statistical evidence gathered by various groups confirm this fact. That is not to say that the level of remaining violence is acceptable or that mass shootings such as the one in Las Vegas or the number of gun deaths in cities such as Chicago are acceptable, but violence world-wide is decreasing year by year. For a good review of this subject the reader can go to slate.com and look for a December 22, 2014 article entitled “The World is Not Falling Apart” by Steven Pinker and Andrew Mack. There are also many primary sources which validate this information.
It is also true that our ability to touch each other in positive or negative ways is easier than ever before. Given the increasing evidence that the idea of the six degrees of separation first proposed some years ago is indeed accurate, the ability of humans to touch each other’s lives is exponentially increasing. Despite the accuracy of what Bruce Alexander calls the dislocation of globalization and which he believes is, in part responsible, for the spread of addiction, the fact is that humans are increasingly interconnected. More and more studies validate the theory that there are only six or less degrees of separation between every person in the world. Recent studies quoted in a 2016 article by Margaret Rouse entitled “Six Degrees of Separation” (whatis.com) assert that “…in 2016, researcher at Facebook reported that the social networking site had reduced the chain length of its members to three and a half degrees of separation.” Even allowing for the fact that one might get Facebook “friends” through a friend of a friend, this is still an astounding short chain length given that many Facebook users have hundreds of friends or followers.
I personally like to think of the effect of the six degrees of separation by imagining what happens when I make a very conscious decision to brighten the day of a clerk in a local green grocer. If I manage to do that and the clerk is able to receive that gesture, there is the distinct possibility that the clerk will pass along that gesture to at least 20 customers. Let’s then suppose that each of those 20 people or even one half of them receive that positive gesture and pass it along to an average to ten people in person, via phone or social media (might be more or less) then there is the possibility that 200 people have been directly affected. If those 200 people, then as a result pass along that positive gesture to an average of 10 people then 2000 people have been touched. Eventually, after six such events I have potentially touched the world.
Another example occurred in my life after I attended a conference in Boston. One of the other attendees was a doctor from Australia who was working in London. We ended up in several continuing education sessions together and struck up an acquaintance which we maintained after the conference. A couple of years later I was in London for a conference and I rang up this man to see if we could visit. He invited me to attend a brunch with him at the home of the Vicar to the Queen of England. I was now only one person away from the Queen of England. I have had many such experiences. Just the other day I was chatting with someone and we discovered that even though we had never previously met we shared connections with no fewer than 4 of the same people. Since I am not originally from this area this seems even more surprising to me. Yet, my antidotal history confirms the close interconnectedness of us humans time after time.
It is certainly true that given the flexibility of movement world- wide for a variety of reasons, there are a significant number of people who are feeling displaced or dislocated- people who have not found it possible to form close connections culturally, socially and otherwise and are thus, feeling adrift or as Bruce Alexander says, dislocated. Yet, despite mass shootings by some and the horrifying number of active addicts, the majority of individuals who are displaced or dislocated do not become addicts or mass murderers. The majority manage to hold on to important aspects of their original culture and/or find a way to create a blend of the old and the new.
When I lived, and worked in Southeast Alaska, there were a number of Native Americans who were feeling dislocated or displaced. They did not feel as if there was enough of the old culture left for them to have a sense of purpose and belonging and, yet, they did not feel as if they had a place in the Caucasian culture. On the other hand, the majority of Native Americans in that area did have a sense of belonging and purpose. Some of these individuals and families managed to hold on too many of the old customs and traditions while also learning to make a place for themselves in the new community. To be sure, given the gross mistreatment of the Native American population in Alaska this was not an easy or painless transition for anyone.
I certainly believe that we can do a better job at creating blended communities and cultures which insure that a majority of people have a sense of purpose and belonging. I also believe that using prisons as primary long term mental health or addiction facilities is counter-productive as well as cruel.
Most addicts with and for whom I have worked as a counselor report that long before they picked up their drug/addiction of choice they felt disconnected or dislocated. This seems to be true regardless of whether or not they were born into an overall well connected extended family who shared a common culture and heritage.
Perhaps in exploring more effective preventive and treatment options for those who feel dislocated or disconnected from the community at large we need to focus on how others manage to made a healthy adjustment to radical changes in their lives. There are those who seems to be able to focus on their similarities with others – on what connects them rather than on differences which could keep them separate. We are a global community which seems, on the whole, to be moving more towards what connects us – what allows us to acknowledge that we are all part of a whole. Yet, there are those individuals who do not feel able to move in that direction. Is there something more we can do to assist them to do so? Is there, as with Autism, a missing piece in the brain which prevents one from seeing the mirror image – from seeing the me in the other and the other in the me? Once again I am reminded to be very intentional about being open to asking the questions which will lead me in a direction which might be helpful in our ongoing struggle to help more of us celebrate the six degrees of separation. Perhaps we need to focus on how to strengthen the core of our being from which we can choose to experience the six degrees of freedom. (If not familiar with this concept google you tube and watch a video explaining the concept of the six degrees of freedom.) The core might have been for many a place and a culture. Perhaps we are at a place historically when we are ready to strengthen a core which is based in our interconnectedness on a universal level. Some will call this a spiritual core.
Written October 5, 2017
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