Monday, August 27, 2007

Six Degrees Of Wikipedia

I have a new game, based on an old one.

I'm sure my readers are familiar with Wikipedia, the web encyclopedia anyone can contribute to. Every entry has links to other entries.

So the game is choosing a start and finish, and seeing how many links it takes to get there. There are no guarantees it can be done and it doesn't necessarily work in both directions. Also, since Wikipedia is constantly being revised, what once worked may not work later.

One way to play is to figure out what can be done, then see if others can do it, and in how many clicks.

I'll give you a few examples (answers at bottom).

1) Anton Chekhov to Stalin in two clicks
2) Bill Clinton to There's Something About Mary in three clicks
3) Albert Einstein to The Republic in three clicks
4) Chief Justice Salmon P. Chase to Kevin Bacon in three clicks

Spread it around. Let's get this game going.

My answers (there might be others)

1) "Anton Chekhov" to "Yalta" to "Stalin"
2) "Bill Clinton" to "Monica Lewinsky" to "semen" to "There's Something About Mary"
3) "Albert Einstein" to "Euclid" to "Plato" to "The Republic"
4) "Salmon P. Chase" to "Dartmouth College" to "National Lampoon's Animal House" to "Kevin Bacon."

PS Before I posted, I figured I'd check to see if anyone had thought of the idea already. Sure enough, there's a search engine which actually connects one item on Wikipedia with another.

5 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Bestiality to Mother Teresa in 3 clicks.

12:57 PM, August 27, 2007  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I can play that tune in two clicks, Bob.

3:32 PM, August 27, 2007  
Blogger LAGuy said...

Does anonymous #1 have an answer?

3:44 PM, August 27, 2007  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I think it's Merv Griffin's ghost. He's finally able again to indulge his urge just to be funny.

4:47 PM, August 27, 2007  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I have no trouble getting to Mother Theresa in four clicks. I've seen a couple of ways. For instance, the bestiality entry links to Christianity. You go then to saints, then to lists of saints, then to Mother Theresa. Another way is to go to Sweden, the the Nobel Prize, then the Nobel Peace Prize list then to Mother Theresa.

5:03 PM, August 27, 2007  

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