Contrary to that painfully annoying Disney song, it’s not really a small world, at all. Unless you think that more than 7 billion people equals a small world. In which case, you must have a lot of friends.
Good for you.
In reality though, you probably know, like, 150 people. No, I didn’t just make up that number. It’s Dunbar’s number. Dunbar made up that number.
That means that you know roughly 0.000002% of people on the entire planet. Remember in high school math when you learned how to round? You learned that 3.8 rounds up to 4 and 1.1 rounds down to 1. You know what 0.000002 rounds to? It rounds to zero. Just let that sink in for a second.
Right now you may be thinking, “Well, shit. I guess I’m worthless.” To which I would reply, “Yes! That’s exactly the point I’m trying to make.”
Before your mind recedes into its sad place, let me console you with the fact that the same is true of all 6,999,999,999 of your fellow earth dwellers. We all popped from our mothers’ wombs equally as insignificant. You don’t matter, but neither does anyone else.
What this means is that you can skip around Safeway wearing your underwear and singing la cucaracha and no one would care. I mean, I think most people in Safeway would care, but since they represent 0% of the world’s population, they’re effectively “no one.”
These stats aren’t meant to depress you, but to liberate you. Make a fool out of yourself. Take a chance. It doesn’t matter! Fear should have no bearing on you, because if you really fuck up, you can easily change your name to Suzie, move to Guatemala, and start over as an underwear model. Here you can accumulate an entirely new network of 150 people. In fact, there are so many people out there that you could potentially do this more than four million times (in case you’re a chronic fuck-up).
“But, what if I want to matter?” you might say. “What if I want to be a big star?” Hmmm, okay. This is trickier. If you have aspirations to do something great–make a difference, become famous, start an internet sensation–then there are a lot of people who could come in between you and your lofty goals.
At least now you know your odds. They’re small. Unless you’re blessed with supreme talent or extraordinary luck, then you have to work for it. To be seen when–according to my fantastic math skills–you don’t exist, then you have to want it more. Ready, set, try harder.
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