A Friendwheel - 'Talisman to Happiness'

They say that you are just 6 friends away from anyone in the world - you know, 'six degrees of separation'...so if you know me and I know someone famous then you are only one degree of separation from that celebrity....if I know someone who knows that famous person, then you are 2 degrees of separation from them.

So what has that do to with gardening?  well, writing this blog has opened my eyes to the amazing interconnectedness of all of us gardeners around the world.

To think that I can communicate with a plant lover in Japan, an avid gardener in England or a designer in Iowa is almost overwhelming to me ( thank you, Blotanical!) ....

Blogging has made me realize that the '6 degrees' is most certainly true. Now a very smart and talented person named Jurvetson on Flikr has diagrammed his connections with 400 friends in a colored spiralgraph, he calls a 'friendwheel'.

Jurvetson writes:
...the emergent eye could be a talisman to happiness, recalling this research conclusion:

“A person's happiness is related to the happiness of their friends, their friends' friends, and their friends' friends' friends—that is, to people well beyond their social horizon.

Each additional happy friend increases a person's probability of being happy by about 9%. Happiness, in short, is not merely a function of personal experience, but also is a property of groups. Emotions are a collective phenomenon.”
 
WOW! happiness is a property of groups....a collective phenonmenon.
 
Well then, I am going keep conversing with my internet gardener pals wherever they are...and I will be a much happier person for it.  Kudos to you, Jurvetson!

Comments

  1. Cary AndrewsFebruary 9, 2010 at 10:13 PM

    Do the Shakers still make seed packets--I remember getting some tea and herbs from a Shaker Museum, but it was some time ago.
    Love the Jurvetson quotes and the Friendwheel, esp the picture. Looks like a great place to walk...Nice looking dog...

    ReplyDelete
  2. Jan JohnsenFebruary 9, 2010 at 11:20 PM

    yeah, isn't that dog the best? those two ladies are not so bad either.....

    you're right btw, I believe the Shakers, that wonderful religious group in the 1800s (started by a woman, were behind the first commercial seed company in the U.S.

    ReplyDelete

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