MODULE 6 ASSIGNMENT 4: Friends and Strangers Theorem

1. Three things that I significantly learned from the video clip:

The main concept used in the video was all about permutation and combination

on statistics. From the permutation of 6 people and how they are connected to each other

produced a whopping 32,768 ways of them either knowing or not knowing one another.

Another thing I learned is that in a network of people more than 3, there are always at

least 3 people that are either friends or does not know each other. By using the concept of

this theorem, various applications especially on computer science and networking can be

used, even on other various fields of engineering such as electrical, electronics and

communications, and computer engineering.

2. Three things that are still unclear to me

The example shown in the video showed an example of a network of 6 people. It

is unclear to me whether the idea of at least three people having certain relations to each

other is still possible for a group of people less than 6. I was also wondering if it would

be possible to apply such concepts and ideas of the theorem in certain practical field of

engineering and sciences such as those that involves circuits, networking and data

analysis. I was also wondering who ever thought of incorporating mathematical concepts

in counting the relationships between friends and strangers.

3. I used to think that

There are only a few to none mathematics involved when it comes to such things

(friendships and relationships). However from this video clip, I’ve come to understand
 that certain concepts and ideas used in the advanced mathematics nd engineering of

cricuits and networking are somehow derived from simple ideas such as this friends and

strangers theorem, or it may even be the other way around.

4. Three questions that I want to ask about the video

Would the idea that at least 3 people are all either friends or strangers still be

applicable in a group of people consisting of less than 6 individuals? Is the concept

regarding this theorem formulated from other concepts of networking and graphing or

was it merely thought of out of nowhere by some mathematician perhaps? Lastly, who

had the idea of incorporating math when it comes to friends and relationships?