a numbers game

First there was the Bacon Number. Then there was the Erdös Number. Then there was the Erdös-Bacon Number.

I feel that there ought to be a whole new set of numbers prompted by the remarkable life of Terrence Malick. For instance:

Malick as a young scholar met Martin Heidegger, and Patti Smith is in his movie Song to Song. Heidegger-Smith Number: 2.

Malick took a class at Harvard from Paul Tillich and later dated Carly Simon. Tillich-Simon Number: 2.

Malick played basketball with Fidel Castro and is friends with Arvo Pärt. Castro-Pärt Number: 2.

This could go on for quite a while. Note that I’m not even mentioning movie people. When Malick was studying at the American Film Institute he met Jean Renoir, and it is said (I have not been able to confirm this) that he went to Bolivia to meet Che Guevara and arrived the day after Che was killed — had he come a couple of days earlier he might have a Renoir-Che Number of 2 also.