Monday, February 25, 2008

six degrees, facebook, and unity of mankind

if you are on facebook, there's a big chance that you're a member of the group Six Degrees Of Separation - The Experiment. after all, more than 4 million facebook users are. its aim:

"Using the Six Degrees of Separation theory, I want to see if it's possible to contact every single person on facebook. The theory states that everybody on this planet is separated by only six other people." (my linking)

the creator of the group, Steve Jackson, recently wrote a report on the progress of the group, which he ended by saying:

"Have I managed to contact every single person on Facebook? I like to think so, but unfortunately I have no way of knowing that for sure. The fact is that more than four million of you took the time to join, and that is nothing short of a miracle. As progress marches on, the world gets smaller. That’s inevitable. Whether we’re separated by six degrees or ten degrees or one degree isn’t important. What is important is the idea that we are connected."

this got me to think of a quotation by 'Abdu'l-Bahá, from more than 100 years ago, talking about the different "candles of unity":

"The first candle is unity in the political realm, the early glimmerings of which can now be discerned. The second candle is unity of thought in world undertakings, the consummation of which will erelong be witnessed. The third candle is unity in freedom which will surely come to pass. The fourth candle is unity in religion which is the corner-stone of the foundation itself, and which, by the power of God, will be revealed in all its splendour. The fifth candle is the unity of nations -- a unity which in this century will be securely established, causing all the peoples of the world to regard themselves as citizens of one common fatherland. The sixth candle is unity of races, making of all that dwell on earth peoples and kindreds of one race. The seventh candle is unity of language, i.e., the choice of a universal tongue in which all peoples will be instructed and converse. Each and every one of these will inevitably come to pass, inasmuch as the power of the Kingdom of God will aid and assist in their realization."

the idea is surely spreading!

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