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Python Scripting and Analyzing Your Way To Love
fiannaFailMan writes "Wired reports one mathematician's mission to find love online by data mining from OK Cupid and applying mathematical modeling to optimize his profile(s). His methods included using 'Python scripts to riffle through hundreds of OkCupid survey questions. He then sorted female daters into seven clusters, like "Diverse" and "Mindful," each with distinct characteristics.' But the real work began when he started going on dates."
Slashdotter has vivid coding dream in Mom's basement and find love.
"But the real work began when he started going on dates."
All 88+ of them.
I mean, I'm glad it can do almost anything, but I'm still waiting for import antigravity to work properly.
I am officially gone from
I watched a TED talk about someone who did something similar.
http://www.ted.com/talks/amy_w...
Well, there's the step I never get to.
Hope he finds love but worried what the kids will turn out like if this works!
Build a Man a Fire, and He'll Be Warm for a Day. Set a Man on Fire, and He'll Be Warm for the Rest of His Life.
So the real thing here is that someone needs to be building a dating website for nerds (assuming it's not already happened).
Start with the proposition you've got a pool of educated individuals working in STEM-type jobs, and go from there. Then you at least know you're working with a pool of people who might have some chance of being interested in your collection of Star Wars figurines, or who want to debate the relative merits of Jar Jar as a character.
Because, really, if you tell the person you're on a date with that you used Python scripts to categorize people into several containers ... you're not gonna get a second date, and the one you're on might end abruptly as the awkward silence turns into thoughts that you might, in fact, be some kind of creepy stalker.
BEGIN NERD VOICE
I've done stochastic analyses of your responses to questionnaires and exhaustively compared your responses to other women on this site, and I calculate there is an 45.2% you might like me. You're the highest score yet!
END NERD VOICE
Really, don't be that guy.
Lost at C:>. Found at C.
Social conditioning and biochemical cues is all you need.
One day you will see...
Even with the women in question also choosing him on the basis of his tailored responses, he's simply increasing the sample size (i.e. the number of first dates) he gets, without really addressing the quality of the data - how closely the women match him in reality and vice-versa.
One of his descriptions in the article "star signs and all that crap" (or words to that effect) indicates that he still hasn't really "got" the women in the database. By dismissing what they consider important in a profile (the "crap") he's not helping himself. Maybe he should have turned around his search. Instead of hacking his profile to get more matches, he should consider modifying his personality to be more attractive to what the larger numbers of women feel they want in a man.
But I guess to a techie, every problem has a technical solution. No doubt all the first-date restaurants will thank him for his patronage and his (later, but maybe not much later) divorce lawyer will also be suitably grateful.
politicians are like babies' nappies: they should both be changed regularly and for the same reasons
So far no results for me. They all seem to want "rich, handsome guy who loves to travel."
The cow says "Moo." The dog says "Woof." The Timothy says "Thanks, valued customer. We appreciate your input."
That's closer to reality than you think. In my own searches, every single woman wanted a guy who was between 5'8" and 6'2". Every...single...one.
Even though Howard wanted to say "mumbo jumbo"
Girls are frequently impressed with my "python skills" ... if you know what I mean ...
I need to brush up on my COBOL, though.
Just use the "Wolowitz coefficient."
Every woman wants Prince Charming. The practical result of this is that every Prince Charming is a prick with a wife and five mistresses on the side (because he can be), and every non-Prince Charming is either alone or with a wife/GF who secretly resents him and is looking to drop him at the first hint of a slot opening up on Prince Charming's schedule.
At 5'4, I'm screwed. As an additional bummer, I prefer to date women shorter than me... Luckily, I'm perfectly happy with my 5'2 girlfriend.
Talk to me about "true love" after 20+ years of marriage, pal.
Aww, midget porn, how cute.
Or... a non-prince charming is with a beautiful woman who should be waaay out of his league who simply loves him.
It's not a rational situation, but it can still definitely be true.
File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
Saw this article just after reading this one:
http://www.cnn.com/2014/01/20/...
Why does the word marketing not appear anywhere in the writeup or article? With the magic of data, he's just doing what radio producers are doing to create the next hit song, or retailers are doing to sell more goods to customers with loyalty cards.
It's Irish for, and I quote, "a bunch of stuff".
I am officially gone from
BS. Some women want to be Pricss Elizabeth (The Paper Bag Princess). And since she didn't marry Prince Ronald because he was a prick, she's free to find someone who she doesn't have to treat like Prince Charming.
BTW, my wife has degrees in Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, and an MBA. And she got the MBA to figure out how to get her company to fund her projects. She was re-reading LOTR when we started dataing. Yes, you got that right. Re-reading.
Same here. Congrats. And you suck. ;-)
Just the headline reminded me of a story I read a couple of years ago. That site needs registration but he also posted it on a site which does not. 99 First Dates. Hilarious.
Warning - Adult Content if you worry about that kind of thing.
Mielipiteet omiani - Opinions personal, facts suspect.
Maybe if he showed more interest in potential partners and less interest in python scripting he'd actually get a date!
Finding true love is really nothing more than matching your personal with either the same or a complimentary crazy in someone else. Wearing your crazy on the first date is risky, but reduces wasted time on those who are incompatible with your personal brand of insanity.
Is it just my observation, or are there way too many stupid people in the world?
1) Categorize women into 7 categories. That looks to me to be valuable, but the article did not discuss all 7 categories. It ignored the only interesting thing this guy did!
2) Set up multiple profiles and use machines to initiate action with thousands of potential women.
3) Went on hundreds of dates in a relatively short amount of time.
His 'success' was statistically insignificant AND totally unrelated to his math. Anyone that goes on hundreds of dates and find the right woman.
You want to impress me? Have the algorithm pick 5 women and have them all be very interested in you. Picking 100's of women with lots of failed dates is just a NORMAL DATING LIFE.
excitingthingstodo.blogspot.com
Whilst what he did was very clever, at the end of the day he manipulated the scoring so that his profile was placed in front of thousands of womens search results because it had a high match percentage (that normally would never have been seen).
The TL;DR version of this story is that if thousands of women see your profile and, at the same time, are told by a website that you're a high match to them, then you've got a very good chance they'll contact you. Which shouldn't be a surprise to anyone.
That, to me, is the digital equivalent of (the old advice) that you'll never meet someone unless you get yourself out there.
Avantslash - View Slashdot cleanly on your mobile phone.
BBT is reasonably funny for a sitcom, though it is getting stretched thin. If you don't find it funny, the stereotypes which form the basis of the jokes are probably hitting to close to home, or you aren't comfortable with your own interpersonal shortcomings. You should work on that - laughing at yourself is the first step to being a happy person. And, lets face it, we're all laughing at you anyway; you may as well join in.
Is it just my observation, or are there way too many stupid people in the world?
every single woman wanted a guy who was between 5'8" and 6'2".
And I want a woman who isn't fat, doesn't freak out every time they get their period and don't use the "reality" shows as a template for how to live one's life.
Looks like we're both out of luck.
We will bankrupt ourselves in the vain search for absolute security. -- Dwight D. Eisenhower
You just keep telling yourself that.
If you don't find it funny, the stereotypes which form the basis of the jokes are probably hitting to close to home, or you aren't comfortable with your own interpersonal shortcomings.
Or, I dunno... maybe the stereotypes are wrong? Ever think of that? While I won't go as far as to call it bigotry I will say that it has all the social trappings of claiming that "black culture" is mirrored by a Little Black Sambo cartoon.
I doubt that. Most women want a guy who is 5'10" or taller, with no upper limit on height as long as it isn't freakish. I can't imagine a woman turning down a guy who is 6'3". 5'8" is too short for most women.
http://xkcd.com/55/
Really? Was he looking for a pole dancer? Seriously, Python is for losers.
putting the 'B' in LGBTQ+
You will think it's crazy and maybe dismiss it -- it doesn't alter the fact that my crazy ramblings end up being proven true.
Screening for personality types and likes and dislikes is not the true way to find someone who will be compatible with you -- at least for the first few dates and a relationship of about 3 years (longer term relationships take emotional compatibility and interests -- but some people lower expectations and muddle through that bit anyway.
Dating sites would be better off taking a swab and bacteria culture from your mouth and gut to find someone you will "spark the magic with" -- because it isn't YOU that's in control of these indefinable attractions -- it's the bacteria in your body looking for a compatible colony. It's likely the bacteria that create the pheromones -- just like they make you crave chocolate or beer without regard to any nutrition or well being.
Do you crave some food or person right now? How are those two cravings different, really? OK, you don't get your feelings hurt by Chocolate ignoring your phone calls,... ... but the SECRET that will be learned perhaps in a decade or two to a "keeping the sparks" going in your relationship; eat the same food.
Go ahead and laugh, I'm used to it. *sniff*
>>"ad space available -- low rates!!!"
Except it's only funny if you're the kind of mouth-breathing mundane who thinks Dane Cook is hilarious. The gags are all the same low-hanging fruit trolls have been rolling out since Chips & Dips -- the one guy even lives in his mom's basement FFS.
Personally, I'm a big fan of self-deprecating humor. Stupid humor, not so much.
That's a pretty stupid description to look for.
Presumably they want someone to take them on trips.
I like to travel, and I travel often. But I assume they don't mean for me to travel around the world while they sit at home.
I’m sorry to inform you that he has been taken in by unsupportable mathematics designed to prey on the gullible and the lonely. The only way this will work is if will be blackmailed with a hidden dirty sock.
in the end he really just likes wang
Yes, you got that right. Re-reading.
Wowzer!!! Impressive!!! All the BBT styled geeks are ruing you right about now.
LOL. She's got a side man, trust me. You ain't worth her time.
BBT is reasonably funny for a sitcom,
maybe, like 10% of the time, but as a geek/nerd/whatever, most of the time the' jokes' are shite and basically subtle put-downs. Of course this washes with 99% of those who watch it because they like seeing 'smart' pepole be 'stupid'. The canned laughter doesn't help.
maybe he/she doesn't find it funny because most of the time it simply isn't funny.
bbt is so overrated it isn't funny.
does any potential date want to see his Python?
thank you - I'm here all week
They always start out with an super-long, totally unreasonable requirements list that includes stuff that's totally irrelevant to any imaginable scope. Through hard work and negotiation and development of what you initially bring to the table, you need to bring down the client's impossible functional specification to something workable she can reasonably be satisfied with (also beer helps). It's called "game" for a reason.
Same here. Congrats. And you suck. ;-)
Wait... there's a category for people who are looking for *that* on okCupid?
https://app.box.com/WitthoftResume Code: https://github.com/cellocgw
You forgot "honest". A lot of pleas for an "honest" man. "Honest" about what?!
But the real work began when he started going on dates
You bet. He'll prolly even have needed a second or third job to finance the dates.
Religous speak to God. Insane are spoken to by God. When all shut up, one can finally hear Shostakovich in peace
I was cheering for you with the "women are not objects" point of your post, and then you just had to go and assume that he's the one paying. Because it's the man's job to pay, right?
Nevermind that any man that pays for his date off OKcupid on the first meeting is an idiot. Go dutch until she proves she's not just there for a free meal with company...which sadly, many are (mostly the "I don't want to waste a lot of time exchanging messages" types who also put little or no effort into filling out their profiles.)
Please help metamoderate.
Being a well-rounded individual is of greatest importance in finding other people interesting. One may be deeply knowledgeable in some arcane technical art, but if one's interests extend no further, then it is unlikely that any others will share them. Having narrow interests is essentially the same as having no interests in terms of defining a shallow personality.
However, the idea of disdaining human contact and focusing instead on art or artifice is not necessarily a bad one, and may indeed be a path to greatness. Whereas love, with all its many splendors, has rarely led any man towards any particular glory. Acquiring deep technical knowledge is not necessarily inherently antisocial, but it is generally so, and few enough of the fairer sex seem willing to trade society for whatever intellectual pleasures may be had in apexes of expertise. For whatever reason, although native ability is blind to sex, these extremes seem to be the province of the onanistic male. Being deeply invested in technical pursuits myself, and thus perhaps more indebted to the solitary savant than most, I can find no grounds to criticize the results.
You are dismissive and lack compassion. Few if any would consider themselves to be tedious or boring, certainly not any man with any measure of intelligence. It is rarely appropriate to judge others for life choices such as this, if indeed it can be considered a choice, and in this case disdain betrays only a lack of understanding. For my part I hope that you both find happiness, wherever you seek it.
Something that seems to have gone unnoticed was the step where he automated the visiting of thousands of other pages of women to register that he viewed their profile (and so they would view his). The article implies that this was a crucial step, but it also un-sustainably further spams up an already poorly working system.
Some of his methods do look like they could be generally useful though.
Not all of us who likes technology/science are stereotypical nerds. And that show was pretty thin from the beginning, not that funny, not worth wasting the time watching.
They all seem to want "rich, handsome guy who loves to travel."
And a bastard. Don't forget the bastard filter. Being in the bastard cluster subliminally suggests belonging to the bigger penis cluster as well.
and every non-Prince Charming is either alone or with a wife/GF who secretly resents him and is looking to drop him at the first hint of a slot opening up on Prince Charming's schedule.
The non-Prince Charmings should then allow and even encourage their wives/GFs to have flings with the Prince Charmings (esp. the already-married ones, since they won't want to take her away from the steady husband/BF), so she can experience the excitement of being with the Prince Charming but without having to risk losing her existing relationship. Even better is if the wives get pregnant by the Prince Charmings so the couple can have a permanent reminder of her fun.
The article mentioned more than once that he answered his profile questions honestly; he just used statistics to figure out the target pools he was interested in and which survey questions they answered.
He said he honestly answered his survey questions, it was just a question of which survey questions to answer for the basic grouping of women he was interested in.
And I want a woman who isn't fat, doesn't freak out every time they get their period and don't use the "reality" shows as a template for how to live one's life.
I'm not sure about the second part here, but if the first and third requirements here are hard requirements, you're going to have a really, really hard time finding a girlfriend if you live in America.
I was surprised no one from OKC was interviewed to get their interpretation of what he did.
Based on what I read, he didn't game the system in a dishonest way. All he did was try to figure out what groups of women he was interested in and what survey questions those groups answered, and then tailor a profile for each group so that he answered the same questions they did to increase the match potential. It said more than once in the article that he answered the survey questions themselves honestly, it was just a matter of knowing what question to answer.
It's only gaming the system if he was dishonest with his answers or if there's some value placed on what questions you answer versus what questions you don't answer -- like some psych survey that gives you 50 questions and tells you to pick 10 to answer and your "score" is based on both your answers to the questions AND what categories or other qualities are assigned to the questions themselves.
Anyway, I would think that if OKC was honest about this they would think of his work positively -- if the goal is to actually put people together for dates, his system actually improves on what they do now.
Although part of me wants to think that OKC or any other dating site actually has a reverse incentive; if the site results in easy, long-term matchmaking it results in reduced user pools and lower ad revenue (or subscriptions for paid sites). Their actual incentive is to keep users on the site for as long as possible, with just enough success to hold their interest but not enough success for them to leave the site.
What I find somewhat ironic, though, was how actually unsuccessful his actual dating was, and the article seemed to gloss over these details. Partly his categorization seemed problematic (East LA artist types) resulting in geographic problems, and maybe part of it was he just had bad dating skills (drinking, etc).
What online dating suffers from is 75% of the participants are ...
Really! I think these social sites have 75% of the participants as women who assume some sugar-daddy is going to offer them free food and care about their problems.
CAPTCHA: shallow
Like a tall blonde who is stupid or easy or both? Or the lazy guy who can find a horny woman anytime? What about the hard-working businessman who snivels before women? Maybe, that contrast is the source of the humour.
On to TBBT: The sleazy guy living in his basement found an attractive, educated woman who made the relationship work and married him. The cute, rich, educated foreigner is socially withdrawn and alone. The ditzy, bitchy blonde spends her time being fair and honest. The hero of the show is a 'nice guy' and still gets the girl. The antagonist who dumps his problems on everybody isn't charming or athletic. I think it is a very atypical sit-com.
88 dates means all his silly math failed. I'll guarantee you the average person doesn't go on 88 dates to find someone to date more than 3 times. It's wonderful he found someone, but the process sounds like it had a negative impact rather than a positive one.
I did the online dating thing. The one thing it made me realize is that most people don't know how to describe themselves in a profile. There's also something completely ineffable about dating. OkCupid probably sorts out some really bad matches between political opposites, but that's about it.
AccountKiller
I can have a partner and several other partners at the same time, I don't have to be a prick for it, just a nice guy with common interests in a women-dominated pool.
Custom electronics and digital signage for your business: www.evcircuits.com
A friend of mine once told me about optimal stopping theory.
He said if you could go on 100 dates,
and had choose to one to marry,
and you had to make the decision after a date,
and without being able to choose a previous date,
when should you stop.
The answer for some sample size 'n' is to automatically discard the first n/e dates.
Then choose the first date that is better than the best one already seen.
100/e is 37.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S...