That cool "six degress of separation thing" that shows how interconnected we all are? Just ain't so:
Kleinfeld's interpretation of all this—which she also published in Psychology Today (March/April 2002)—is that Milgram was so in love with the idea of six degrees that he overlooked the weak statistics backing it up. And worse, he promoted his sketchy results to an unsuspecting public. Not that she thinks the public minds. In talking to others about their coincidental experiences running into friends and friends of friends in unlikely places, she's become convinced that the idea of six degrees has deep psychological appeal. “The belief in a small world gives people a sense of security,” she says.
A lot of social "science" is like this, preconceived notions or wishful thinking backed up by the flimsiest of evidence.
