Clicking Through Life

Ok, some fun for a weekend. Stephen Dolan, currently at Trinity College, Dublin, has written software that lets us all play a game he’s calling “Six Degrees of Wikipedia”, inspired by the game “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon.” Mr. Dolan humbly says he’s a “lowly student”, but the Chronicle of Higher Education has dubbed him a “researcher.” Let us quibble not; it’s a very cool game, and he must be a very cool fellow to have come up with this code.

The Chronicle explains the game this way,

For example, how many clicks through Wikipedia does it take to get from “Gatorade” to “Genghis Khan”? Three: Start at “Gatorade,” then click to “Connecticut,” then “June 1,” then “Genghis Khan.”

The article “closest” to the center (or centre) is “United Kingdom.” What were the odds?

Read more about “Six Degrees” on Mr. Dolan’s website here. [Click!]