# I determined my Bacon and Erdös numbers **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 29, 2021, 8:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-determined-my-bacon-and-erdos-numbers/956843 "2021-12-29T08:59:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Schnitte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/schnitte/32/9033_2.png) [@Schnitte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schnitte)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2021, 8:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-determined-my-bacon-and-erdos-numbers/956843/1 "2021-12-29T08:59:42Z")
I’m not an actor at all, but back then when I graduated, my university sold CDs with videos of my graduation ceremony on them, which I suppose counts as a released movie. The video has both myself and the vice-chancellor (President, in American usage) of the university in it, and years later that vice-chancellor went on to another university where they had some pop music star (who also acts a little) as a commencement speaker. Long story short, this gives me a Bacon number of 4. The Erdös number was much harder to find. I publish occasionally in law journals, but almost always alone and hardly ever co-authoring. After some searching on Google Scholar, I found a path that links me to Erdös via 11 degrees. Since I am active in publishing but not in movies, I found it surprising that the Bacon number is so much lower, but that’s life. Now I simply need to find something to do with that newly found information. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2021, 9:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-determined-my-bacon-and-erdos-numbers/956843/2 "2021-12-29T09:10:07Z")
Hmm, i have co-published greeting cards with my husband, who has published math papers… ---
**Author:** ![Francis\_Vaughan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/francis_vaughan/32/3093_2.png) [@Francis\_Vaughan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Francis_Vaughan)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2021, 10:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-determined-my-bacon-and-erdos-numbers/956843/3 "2021-12-29T10:31:03Z")
My Erdös number is 4. I was quite amazed to discover it was so low, but there are accidents of history in why. I almost certainly have undefined Bacon and Sabbath numbers. So it perhaps isn’t too surprising that glitches get you at least one small number. ---
**Author:** ![saje](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saje/32/3631_2.png) [@saje](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saje)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2021, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-determined-my-bacon-and-erdos-numbers/956843/4 "2021-12-29T11:44:40Z")
I co-authored a chapter in a [medical text](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/nlmcatalog/9313936) and knew the editors Fu and Stone. My [uncle](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lorenzo_Semple_Jr.) was a screenplay writer for movies and a 1960s TV show everyone has at least heard of, and his [daughter](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Semple) is also a writer and producer. Not entirely sure what that means for my numbers! ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2021, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-determined-my-bacon-and-erdos-numbers/956843/5 "2021-12-29T12:58:41Z")
How does one count to get the Bacon number - if I actually knew Kevin Bacon, would my number be 0 or 1? Either way, my Bacon number can’t be more than 2 or 3, as I know a successful Hollywood writer and my boyfriend’s cousin is a famous actor. I’ve never published an academic paper so I don’t have an Erdos number. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUBv.2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanubv.2/32/3260_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUBv.2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUBv.2)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2021, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-determined-my-bacon-and-erdos-numbers/956843/6 "2021-12-29T13:08:59Z")
My uncle was an extra in _Stir of Echoes_ [(the gentleman in the grey overcoat)](https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DDaa5VOnUWsA&psig=AOvVaw1uX6OEEGeFQYhfCyTN_XUv&ust=1640869398099000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CAsQjRxqFwoTCMDHro2JifUCFQAAAAAdAAAAABAD) which stars KB. That makes my number a 2, I guess? It tickles and amazes me that I never thought of this in all these years / times I’ve watched this film. ---
**Author:** ![GeneralTang](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/97f17d/32.png) [@GeneralTang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GeneralTang)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2021, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-determined-my-bacon-and-erdos-numbers/956843/7 "2021-12-29T13:18:14Z")
I’m happy to announce my Erdos number is 3. (last time I checked, but probably hasn’t changed). I’m confused about Bacon number (which I assume I do not have, since I’ve never acted). Confused because the two posters above mention a bacon number with some argument based on relationships, but no personal acting experience. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2021, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-determined-my-bacon-and-erdos-numbers/956843/8 "2021-12-29T13:23:25Z")
> [@CairoCarol](#): > > How does one count to get the Bacon number - if I actually knew Kevin Bacon, would my number be 0 or 1? Like an Erdos number, one must have appeared in a movie to have a number. Bacon himself would have a Bacon number of 0. Anybody who has appeared in a movie with Bacon would have a Bacon number of 1. Anybody who co-stared in a movie with one of them (but not Bacon himself) would have a number of 2. And so on. Having never appeared in any movies or documentaries whatsoever (to my knowledge anyway), I have no Bacon number. But my Erdos number is no higher than 6. I’d have to look a bit more closely but I suspect it is as low as 4. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2021, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-determined-my-bacon-and-erdos-numbers/956843/9 "2021-12-29T13:28:45Z")
> [@Great\_Antibob](#): > > Having never appeared in any movies or documentaries whatsoever (to my knowledge anyway), I have no Bacon number. My understanding is that the Bacon number, while it started out specifically referring to actors who have worked with Kevin Bacon, has come to more generally refer to the “six degrees of separation” concept. From [Wikipedia’s page on Bacon numbers:](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six_Degrees_of_Kevin_Bacon) > In the commercial, Bacon wants to write a check to buy a book, but the clerk asks for his ID, which he does not have. He leaves and returns with a group of people, then says to the clerk, "Okay, I was in a movie with an extra, Eunice, whose hairdresser, Wayne, attended Sunday school with Father O’Neill, who plays racquetball with Dr. Sanjay, who recently removed the appendix of Kim, who dumped you sophomore year. So you see, we’re practically brothers): ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2021, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-determined-my-bacon-and-erdos-numbers/956843/10 "2021-12-29T13:31:33Z")
Ok, that’s fine. But I’ll note the wiki article itself says the number applies to actors and the commercial was a humorous spoof of the concept. ---
**Author:** ![Schnitte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/schnitte/32/9033_2.png) [@Schnitte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schnitte)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2021, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-determined-my-bacon-and-erdos-numbers/956843/11 "2021-12-29T13:32:34Z")
> [@GeneralTang](#): > > Confused because the two posters above mention a bacon number with some argument based on relationships, but no personal acting experience. Indeed, under the rules of the Bacon number it’s appearances in a movie that establish a relationship; being personally acquainted doesn’t suffice. Which forced me to interpret the rules a bit more liberally by counting videos of graduation and commencement ceremonies. ---
**Author:** ![Schnitte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/schnitte/32/9033_2.png) [@Schnitte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schnitte)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2021, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-determined-my-bacon-and-erdos-numbers/956843/12 "2021-12-29T13:34:07Z")
Yes, the concept predates that commercial. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2021, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-determined-my-bacon-and-erdos-numbers/956843/13 "2021-12-29T13:37:43Z")
Okay, with the stricter definition I don’t have a Bacon number. Well, actually I suppose I do - I did act in a high school play with someone who went on to attempt a career as a Hollywood actor. But she was not successful, so my Bacon number is probably very large. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2021, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-determined-my-bacon-and-erdos-numbers/956843/14 "2021-12-29T13:41:16Z")
So far as I know, I don’t have a Bacon number (unless maybe you count school plays, but I have no idea if anyone I was on stage with connects to anyone else), but IIRC, my Erdös number is 8. Or more precisely, my Einstein number is 6; there may well be a shorter path to Erdös that doesn’t go through Einstein. ---
**Author:** ![Schnitte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/schnitte/32/9033_2.png) [@Schnitte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schnitte)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2021, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-determined-my-bacon-and-erdos-numbers/956843/15 "2021-12-29T13:41:55Z")
Doesn’t have to be. The nice thing about how these numbers work is that no matter how high you think yours is, it’s by definition only 1 higher than that of the next person through whom you’re building the path. So even if that person’s Hollywood career was a failure, she was probably in at least one film with at least one actor with a reasonably low Bacon number. Which makes your number that of that actor plus 2. ---
**Author:** ![Lightnin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightnin/32/180_2.png) [@Lightnin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightnin)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2021, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-determined-my-bacon-and-erdos-numbers/956843/16 "2021-12-29T13:52:23Z")
My Bacon number is 4: I was in a play with **Johanna Watts** , who was in _American Warships_ with **Mario Van Peebles** , who was in _Submerged_ with **Tim Daly** , who was in _Diner_ with **Kevin Bacon**. ---
**Author:** ![gdave](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gdave/32/3683_2.png) [@gdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gdave)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2021, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-determined-my-bacon-and-erdos-numbers/956843/17 "2021-12-29T13:53:31Z")
I was an extra in a movie with Jonathan Tucker (I’m _very_ briefly on-screen in a scene with him, and just off-screen in a couple more), so my Bacon Number is 2. Having never published in an academic paper, I don’t have an Erdös number. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2021, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-determined-my-bacon-and-erdos-numbers/956843/18 "2021-12-29T14:14:41Z")
Google says that the highest known Bacon number is 7. I found a cite for the highest Erdös number as 13, but that was based only on a database of mathematics papers: On the one hand, non-mathematicians might be expected to have higher numbers than mathematicians, but on the other hand, inclusion of other sorts of papers might lead to shorter paths for some of those with 13. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2021, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-determined-my-bacon-and-erdos-numbers/956843/19 "2021-12-29T14:22:37Z")
Well, if you count those greeting cards as “publications”, my Erdös number is 3. If you don’t, I might not have one. I have published a couple of papers, but none in math, and only 2 had co-authors, and I’m pretty sure the other authors on one of those haven’t published any other papers. So… maybe I could trace all the doctors on that paper I got listed on right out of college, and see if any of them has an Erdös number, but it seems unlikely. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2021, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-determined-my-bacon-and-erdos-numbers/956843/20 "2021-12-29T14:42:44Z")
My Bacon number is 3 via a number of different routes, but then that applies to about a million other people too. I’ve got some publications in music but I can’t imagine trying to calculate a Erdös number - it probably exists but it’d be big. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-determined-my-bacon-and-erdos-numbers/956843.md?page=2)