Four decades before digital social networking existed, psychologists Jeffrey Travers and Stanley Milgram conducted a fascinating experiment to show how truly interconnected we all are. They gave letters to random people in Nebraska that included the name of a recipient in Massachusetts—but no address! Participants were asked to forward the letter to anyone they knew who might know someone who might know someone else who might ultimately know the recipient. It took an average of only 5.2 intermediaries for each letter to reach its final destination in Boston.
