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Man Uses Drake Equation To Explain Girlfriend Woes
artemis67 writes "A man studying in London has taken a mathematical equation that predicts the possibility of alien life in the universe to explain why he can't find a girlfriend. Peter Backus, a native of Seattle and PhD candidate and Teaching Fellow in the Department of Economics at the University of Warwick, near London, in his paper, 'Why I don't have a girlfriend: An application of the Drake Equation to love in the UK,' used math to estimate the number of potential girlfriends in the UK. In describing the paper on the university Web site he wrote 'the results are not encouraging. The probability of finding love in the UK is only about 100 times better than the probability of finding intelligent life in our galaxy.'"
Actually it's not reasonable, but predictable. There is actually a (more or less) general consensus on beauty. Basically it revolves around our liking for healthy looking partners that look like they could be partners to viable offspring with.
Generally, the pale, skinny (or grossly overweight) basement dweller isn't it.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
http://xkcd.com/384/
Congratulations, you can google some numbers and stick them into a formula. You're brilliant, and it's oh so funny to come up with bullshit statistics like "only 100 times more likely than finding intelligent life in the universe".
One of the reasons he can't find a girlfriend is because he is one of those people who USE the Drake equation. But seriously, look at his Criteria.
Backus found that of the 30 million women in the UK, only 26 would be suitable girlfriends for him. His equation looked at the total number of women in the country, then narrowed it down using relevant factors including the number of women in London; the number of "age-appropriate" women (those aged between 24-34); women with a college degree; and those who Backus would find physically attractive.
Okay - so how do you POSSIBLY apply a statistical analysis on something as subjective as a womans physical attractiveness?
Yeah I've heard this attitude before, to quote some random person on the internet:
"Math and science are cold and hard and mean. And male and white. Wrong answers kill puppies." - Joanne Jacobs
Also yes, he's disgusting douchebag, but since he's going to college, young, his face doesn't suck and not a midget he does have a girlfriend. Women are every bit as shallow as men. They are much more self-righteously dishonest about being as shallow as men though.
He's set personal standards that are virtually impossible to meet. That would be his problem, not the female population's.
Are you kidding me? All he wants is a person around his age, living in the same city, with a university education, and that he finds attractive. That is not "virtually impossible" the only thing there that is probably different than 90+% of what everyone is looking for is the university education, and I wouldn't even be sure it's that different. Now, having said that I don't think using math like this is all that great an idea, though it could work.
letting an idiot know they are an idiot is not a game... it's a responsibility. - by Kristopeit, M. D. (1892582)
Love, too, is surprisingly predictable. Take two people who would not automatically rule each other out romantically, put them in frequent contact with each other, give each a significant need (sexual or not) that isn't being met in their life but is met through the other, and odds are surprisingly high that they'll end up in a relationship. And there are all sorts of actions that dramatically increase the odds. For example, confessing your feelings to another person tends to encourage them to reciprocate even if they hadn't had the feelings before. That's why the #1 and #2 rules for if you're trying to avoid having an affair are that if you develop feelings for someone else, immediately cut off contact with the person insomuch as is possible and *never* confess your feelings to them.
Stop it, stop it, it's fine. I will *destroy* you.
I wouldn't be surprised if the probability of a person finding a girlfriend is inversely correlated to how likely they are to attempt to calculate the probability of finding a girlfriend. ;)
Stop it, stop it, it's fine. I will *destroy* you.
Shut up. Seriously, YOU'RE un-fucking-date-able. Did you consider that?
Under the influence of Post-Cyberpunk Gonzo Journalism
I think 5% is a reasonable number. Keep in mind when thinking about the number, he's 31, that means the dating pool of women is shrinking, I would think the majority of those are from the end of the pool that the general public is going to find attractive, which means that the available women keep getting "uglier".
That's rather insulting. His age group is 24 to (34?), and you're acting like the singles in that age group are mostly hags.
Furthermore, as I mentioned earlier:
"Compare this to the average high school where every other kid pairs up with someone in the same school. What does his Drake equation have to say about that?"
And that's *with* the social awkwardness of high school. Out of your average of, what, perhaps 1000 kids per school, generally over half of them pair up. And usually with people from the same class.
Stop it, stop it, it's fine. I will *destroy* you.
Right. Any story about a mathematician finding a girlfriend should be in the science fiction section.
Any story about the Drake Equation belongs in the SF section.
$ make available
To most high school students, their relationship is TEH MOST SERIOUS EVAR! In retrospect, they're not, but that doesn't change the equation.
5% is way, way, way too low. In the right situation, I bet he could fall in love with 80% of women in his age group. And the percent that is single is still quite high. And people don't get "locked up" forever in relationships, either, due to divorce or breakups. And it's not like people get married in the order of most attractive to least.
Stop it, stop it, it's fine. I will *destroy* you.
Anybody can find a girlfriend.
Obvious lie.
Plus you might date someone you find averagely attractive, by the end of the night glimpse something about them that makes you like them more, and six months later think they're the most beautiful person in the world.
They say familiarity breeds contempt, but sometimes it works the other way.
I'm British. I've spent a fair amount of time in the US. And I disagree.
Patriotism aside, I think one probably develops a taste for local styles.
Oh, and TV isn't really representative of real life. British TV has less of a propensity for glamour than American TV. Our most popular soaps - Coronation St. and Eastenders - make a habit of taking beautiful actresses and making them dowdy in costume/makeup.
Anybody can find a girlfriend.
Obvious lie.
I've seen retards have offspring. If they can do it, you can do it.
Until you get until your early 30s. If you're single, professional, and in your early 30s suddenly you get a lot more attractive to them.
The women who "magically" become interested in you at such time are nothing more than single client, glorified whores.
If they didn't want to fuck you before you could provide them with a comfortable middle class lifestyle and pay for the production of children then they really aren't attracted to you as a person. They are attracted to what you can do for them and their potential children.
Once they have secured a lifelong commitment of resources from you, a significant percentage of these women will become sexually bored with you and begin to seek out the type of guy they enjoyed fucking before they "settled down."
Posted Anon because this little tidbit of factual info hits far, far too close to home for many a Slashdotter.