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

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Chapters:
0:00 What is six degrees of separation?
4:23 Weak ties
11:05 How disease spreads
12:36 The paper goes viral
16:28 The long tail
24:03 A familiar dilemma
23:38 The Prisoner’s Dilemma

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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:
Alex Porter, Alexander Tamas, Anton Ragin, Anupam Banerjee, Gnare, Ibby Hadeed, Jon Jamison, Juan Benet, Lee Redden, Meekay, Orlando Bassotto, Paul Peijzel, Richard Sundvall, Sam Lutfi, Ubiquity Ventures, Adam Foreman, Albert Wenger, armedtoe, Balkrishna Heroor, Bertrand Serlet, Blake Byers, Bruce, Dave Kircher, David Johnston, David Tseng, Evgeny Skvortsov, Garrett Mueller, gpoly, Jeromy Johnson, KeyWestr, Kyi, Marinus Kuivenhoven, Matthias Wrobel, meg noah, Michael Bush, Michael Krugman, Robert Oliveira, Tj Steyn & wolfee

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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

Post from Veritasium on September 30, 2025

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