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The Small World of English
Discover how we mapped 1.5 million English words into a navigable semantic network where any two words connect in 6-7 hops, enabling innovative word games and linguistic exploration.
We discovered that combining human-curated thesauri, book cataloging systems, and carefully constrained LLM queries creates a navigable network where 76% of random word pairs connect in ≤7 hops—but only when you deprecate superconnectors and balance multiple ranking signals. Species & Taxonomy “German shepherd”(dog breed) “dwarf sirens”(salamander family) “northern raccoons”(regional variant) “Angoumois moths”( Sitotroga cerealella) “grass crab spider”(specific arachnid) Terms like “cultural heritage” appearing in 53,833 classifications became superconnectors we could appropriately down-rank, while preserving the “boring but essential” connections found in specialized journals like “sewer pipe periodicals” that link urban infrastructure to public health.
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