There is no perfect solution, but there is a reasonable formula: Figure out your parameters, like how soon you want to be in a relationship and how many dates you want to go on in search of the right person. Say you've given yourself a year and 100 dates — two a week. The math says you should go on dates with 37 percent of them without committing, and then — after the 37th person and about four and a half months — pursue the first person who's better than all the others you've met.
Of course, this still assumes that the problem of starting a relationship is a matter of quantity, measurement, and optimization. Aurora's experience suggests that making a match is as much about interpersonal negotiation as it is about data and analysis.
Joseph Reagle is Associate Professor of Communication Studies at Northeastern University. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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