'Six Degrees Of Separation'

Floyd1 said:
Rog lived just up the road from me from 1953-1968. I often wonder if he'd have driven through here on his way to London (no bypass then) or whether he'd have got the train to Crewe maybe.
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Moore was reputed to own houses all over the country.* He might have been going to look at one of those. :chuckle:

*Didn't we have a thread on that?
 
gordonrutter said:
I've got one I don't think I have shared on this forum. I used to know the son of Albert Speer, knowing Hitler always seemed interested in children I have always assumed the son was at some point introduced to Hitler. Not really the sort of question you ask someone! So probably two degrees from Hitler.
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About time Godwin's law was invoked!
 
AnonyJ said:
As mentioned in another thread, I am connected by 3 degrees to Stalin and Churchill, by 2(?) to Franklin D Roosevelt (numbers are not my strong point)

My late Granny was in the ATS during WWII, her company was inspected by Eleanor Roosevelt on their parade ground. Apparently she refused an umbrella as all the young women who'd been waiting for her (for ages) had gotten soaked by the rain - she thought it discourteous to then meet them under a brolly.

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Doing a little extra checking I now find that via Ribbentrop I am thus 5 degrees separated from Hitler (and, obviously 4 degrees from any other Nazi who met Stalin at any point, and Trotsky!)
 
catseye said:
Yep, and six degrees means 'your friend once caught sight of the best friend of someone famous, through binoculars.' Or something.
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Nah, there has to be some meaningful contact, however superficial and transient.
Like, serving someone famous once in a shop might not count, but if they were friendly and flirted a bit it definitely does.
 
escargot said:
Nah, there has to be some meaningful contact, however superficial and transient.
Like, serving someone famous once in a shop might not count, but if they were friendly and flirted a bit it definitely does.
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And that is why I am friendly and flirt with all my customers. I mean, they might not be famous now...
 
I think the 6 degrees of separation is a bit like those old books on ley lines: define something broadly enough and it will fit.

Ley hunters in the 1970s used to allow fractions of points for cross roads, short sections of straight road, etc., and more points for anything vaguely old (tumulus, standing stone, medieval church, etc.) however unrelated. Sooner or later, you added up enough points to claim a ley line.

6 degrees of separation probably works for the developed world if you include blood relations, acquaintances, people you once met or saw in the distance, or who went out with your sister, or who attended the same university but on a different course, and so on.

I tried it once and found I was only 3 degrees of separation from the Presidents of the USA, Russia, China, and every country in Europe because I had met my MP who of course had met the Prime Minister.

Mathematically, the "theory" relies on a few people being "one to very many" nodes in the network.

I suspect I am more than 6 degrees of separation from millions of African, Asian or Chinese rural peasants who spend all or most of their lives without meeting anyone from outside their own small communities.
 
Mikefule said:
I think the 6 degrees of separation is a bit like those old books on ley lines: define something broadly enough and it will fit.

Ley hunters in the 1970s used to allow fractions of points for cross roads, short sections of straight road, etc., and more points for anything vaguely old (tumulus, standing stone, medieval church, etc.) however unrelated. Sooner or later, you added up enough points to claim a ley line.

6 degrees of separation probably works for the developed world if you include blood relations, acquaintances, people you once met or saw in the distance, or who went out with your sister, or who attended the same university but on a different course, and so on.

I tried it once and found I was only 3 degrees of separation from the Presidents of the USA, Russia, China, and every country in Europe because I had met my MP who of course had met the Prime Minister.

Mathematically, the "theory" relies on a few people being "one to very many" nodes in the network.

I suspect I am more than 6 degrees of separation from millions of African, Asian or Chinese rural peasants who spend all or most of their lives without meeting anyone from outside their own small communities.
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Yes, don't they say that pretty much everyone who is of European ancestry can trace themselves back to Charlemagne or Edward I or something? So if you define 'separation' as 'having met' as well as being related to, we are all so interconnected it's practically incest.
 
Mikefule said:
I suspect I am more than 6 degrees of separation from millions of African, Asian or Chinese rural peasants who spend all or most of their lives without meeting anyone from outside their own small communities.
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Most residents of remote rural areas will interact with NGOs who deliver health services. There's a possible link right away.
 
Mikefule said:
I suspect I am more than 6 degrees of separation from millions of African, Asian or Chinese rural peasants who spend all or most of their lives without meeting anyone from outside their own small communities.
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I don't know. Aren't we all great (great great etc) grand children of Genghis Khan? :hahazebs: Perhaps that's something best left to Ancestry.com
 
My late Uncle was a Catholic Priest, who met Pope John XXIII, and our school chaplain was Father Vincent Nichols, who's now Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster Vincent Nichols, who'll have met several Popes, so I'm only a few steps away from anyone who's met one or more of the recent Popes.
 
Techy used to do the sound for a professional singer. Seems she's pally with, among others, Joanna Lumley and Julian Clary.

So there you go - 3 degrees from two national treasures. :wink2:
 
My mate Steve was telling me that he grew up next door to Chris Rea in Middlesbrough. He knew Chris well and was always round at their house. He also told me that Chris's dad ran a successful ice cream business.
Steve told me that the song 'Driving Home for Christmas' was autobiographical - Chris was living a long way from home, so the drive to visit the family was a bit of a lengthy task.
 
Aydee_Aitchdee said:
I swear to God if he wasn't telling the truth, that's a felony level offense.
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Here's a thing. While the ex boyfriend certainly did tell me this in the late '70s, Cleese successfully sued a tabloid for printing a story from someone in a similar job for telling the identical story about him.
Cleese denied he'd ever behaved in this manner. He said the allegation made him sound unhinged or summat.
 
escargot said:
Here's a thing. While the ex boyfriend certainly did tell me this in the late '70s, Cleese successfully sued a tabloid for printing a story from someone in a similar job for telling the identical story about him.
Cleese denied he'd ever behaved in this manner. He said the allegation made him sound unhinged or summat.
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Me thinks m'lord doth protest too much

I mean, it's not like no one has ever, at any time in history, thought he sounded unhinged. It's what made him a star! The lawsuit? Publicity, baby. Well played, Mr. Cleese
 
ChasFink said:
Hmmm...
I shook Buzz Aldrin's hand, and Aldrin was friendly with Wernher von Braun. I don't know if von Braun ever met Hitler, but he at least was photographed with Himmler.
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maximus otter said:
[Picture of group with Hitler]
Von Braun upper centre in dark suit.
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I mentioned this to someone yesterday and thought: "If I ever write an autobiography I might call it 'Three Handshakes to Hitler'".
 
ChasFink said:
I mentioned this to someone yesterday and thought: "If I ever write an autobiography I might call it 'Three Handshakes to Hitler'".
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Trawling through the internet I found a 1930's edition of the school magazine where my mother attended. She had written a small piece, but in the same edition was an article written by her best friend (mother often mentioned her), about a trip she had taken to Germany that year. Turned out that she had attended a meet and greet organised by Hitler's entourage. Realising she was British she was pushed to the front of the queue and Hitler spoke to her for a few minutes via an interpreter. She was thrilled by the experience.
 
PeteS said:
Trawling through the internet I found a 1930's edition of the school magazine where my mother attended. She had written a small piece, but in the same edition was an article written by her best friend (mother often mentioned her), about a trip she had taken to Germany that year. Turned out that she had attended a meet and greet organised by Hitler's entourage. Realising she was British she was pushed to the front of the queue and Hitler spoke to her for a few minutes via an interpreter. She was thrilled by the experience.
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Germany had always been a close ally to Britain until the Kaiser came along. The friendship was restored after WW1. Parties of children were sent to Germany for hiking and cultural experiences.
(Also Scouts, one group of which were stranded in bad weather and suffered fatalities.)

There's a TV drama series with a girl who goes back in time to one of those expeditions. Your mother's friend's story reminded me strongly of that. :)
 
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ChasFink said:
I mentioned this to someone yesterday and thought: "If I ever write an autobiography I might call it 'Three Handshakes to Hitler'".
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My French teacher in the late 70's was a Hungarian by birth who served in the German army. He told us he'd met Hitler at the Berlin Olympics, just one of his many war stories. A double French lesson would vanish instantly if one of us 'mentioned the war'. Down would roll the map of Europe and off he'd go most enthusiastically, reminiscing most often about the Russian front.
Post WW2, he made his way to Argentina, before settling on the island of Nauru (north east of the Solomon Islands in Micronesia) for some years before making his way to Australia.
A remarkably intelligent man, he spoke 7 or 8 languages and could play most musical instruments aside from the violin.
Assuming his stories were true (and I have no proof), I can claim two degrees of separation, though it's not something I'd shout from from the tree tops.
 
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