Jakub
Topic:
A few years ago I discovered that three people close to me were born on the same day, on January 19th. For a long time it was an argument for me to believe at least a little bit in horoscopes. This week I wanted to test it out. And my conclusion is that this argument is rather weak.
Data gathering:
I went back to elementary school and started writing a list of my friends. From adolescence until today. I counted 19 people in total. I checked the zodiac sign for each of them and put it in the appropriate place on the chart. Then I read a few horoscopes of my sign (Virgo) to check the associations with other signs. I marked in red these zodiac signs that I should get along with particularly well.
Data drawing:
My chart is very simple. My girlfriend, who is always the first reviewer of my postcards, finds it not very visually appealing, but comprehensible and effectively illustrating the subject. I guess it’s a success 🙂
Klaudia’s postcard:
The network interestingly depicts people as vital links in all relationships. It also shows the importance of school and university friends. It is when we build the strongest relationships. Klaudia’s postcard confirms in a way the so-called Dunbar numbers theory, i.e. that we dedicate approx. ⅔ of our social time to only 15 people.
The process:
Klaudia
Topic:
Great topic 🙂 It made me wonder: With how many people I actually maintain regular contacts? With how many do I share interests and common discussion topics?
This week I was also thinking about the durability of relationships I have made in recent years. Today it is not as easy to become close friends as it was in childhood. The people closest to me (as you can see on the postcard) are those I met at school and in university. Fortunately, however, I regularly meet new friends who become a source of inspiration for me.
My other conclusion is that during the pandemic it is difficult to properly take care of relationships. Common experiences, long conversations and strange adventures are less frequent, and yet they bring people together and are remembered after many years.
Data gathering:
Due to the rather limited “live” contacts this week, I simply decided to stop for a moment and check: 1) with how many people I had an ongoing, non-professional contact and/or 2) how many people I could contact without hesitation asking them to eat lunch together, go for a walk, or just have a discussion about all sorts of things and they wouldn’t be surprised 🙂
Data drawing:
I’ve been thinking about drawing a net for some time and this week seemed a perfect opportunity. Using this technique I decided to visualize the relationships between all my friends. By relationship, I mean more than just a passing acquaintance.
Several peninsulas emerged, mainly connected by a circle representing my husband, because he knows many of my friends and we often meet in a larger group.
You can also see a few larger and smaller islands made up of people that only I know (e.g. my colleagues)
Jakub’s postcard:
How interesting! Once, in the past, I also wondered if my friends’ zodiac signs meant something, but as a person with little faith in astrology, I never did an in-depth analysis. I suspect that, just like in Jakub’s case, not much would come out of it 🙂 Anyway, this is a very interesting approach to the subject.
The process:
