Something Strange Happens When You Trace How Connected We Are

The beautiful math behind six degrees of separation. Sponsored by Incogni - use code veritasium at https://incogni.com/veritasium to get an exclusive 60% off.

If you’re looking for a molecular modelling kit, try Snatoms, a kit I invented where the atoms snap together magnetically - https://ve42.co/SnatomsV

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To play around with the simulations in the video, you can follow these links:

Disease spreading - https://www.veritasium.com/simulation2

Preferential attachment - https://ve42.co/barabasiAlbertSim

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A huge thank you to:

Duncan Watts, for creating the small-world model that inspired this video and expanding on his further work; Steve Strogatz, for telling the story with such clarity & humour; Albert-László Barabási, for revealing the the inevitability and impact of hubs; Mark Buchanan, for his insightful takeaways that pulled it all together.

Check out Duncan Watts’ books here - https://www.amazon.com/Six-Degrees-Sc...

Check out Mark Buchanan’s book here - https://ve42.co/bookNexusWorlds

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Chapters:

0:00 What is six degrees of separation?

4:23 Network Shortcuts

7:11 The Strength of Weak Ties

8:20 Proving it’s a small world

10:39 How quickly can disease spread?

12:36 Strogatz goes viral

16:59 What is a network hub?

18:23 Preferential Attachment

23:38 The Prisoner’s Dilemma

28:22 Your behavior can change the world’s

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References can be found here - https://ve42.co/networksRefs

Image and video references can be found here - https://ve42.co/networksVisuals

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Special thanks to our Patreon supporters:

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Writers: James Moore, Casper Mebius & Derek Muller

Producer & Director: James Moore

Editors: Peter Nelson & Jack Saxon

Camera Operators: Derek Muller & Casper Mebius

Animators: Andrew Neet, Emma Wright, Fabio Albertelli & Ivy Tello

Illustrators: Jakub Misiek

Assistant Editor: James Stuart

Researchers: Callum Cuttle, Aakash Singh Bagga & Gabe Strong

Simulations: Callum Cuttle, Gabe Strong & Ivy Tello

Sound Designers: Pavle Peric & James Stuart

Thumbnail Designers: Abdallah Rabah, Ren Hurley & Ben Powell

Production Team: Josh Pitt, Nicola Griffiths & Rob Beasley Spence

Executive Producers: Derek Muller & Casper Mebius

Additional video/photos supplied by Getty Images, Storyblocks

Music from Epidemic Sound