Modeling Friendship

Prepared by:

Joseph Malkevitch
Department of Mathematics
York College (CUNY)
Jamaica, New York 11451

email:

malkevitch@york.cuny.edu

web page:

http://york.cuny.edu/~malk

Everyone values their friends but the notion of friendship is subtle and complex. Here are some questions to help you think through some of the issues involved.

Question 1

Do you think that everyone whom you consider as a friend considers you as a friend?

Question 2

Do you think you have more or fewer friends than your "typical" or "average" friend?

Question 3

Do you think it is reasonable to model the notion of being friends using a graph?

Question 4

Do you think it is reasonable to model the notion of being an acquaintance using a graph?