Jacobian comments on A Rationalist Guide to OkCupid - Less Wrong

24 Post author: Jacobian 03 February 2016 08:50PM

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Comment author: Jacobian 15 February 2016 06:49:44PM 1 point [-]

leplen, thanks for the feedback. Here are my thoughts.

  1. ChristianKI is correct that I looked at match percentage, but mostly I felt that I would learn about someone more from a quick chat than from their profile so I wasn't limited to "perfectly written" profiles. Attractiveness is ultimately less important, but easier to judge.

  2. I didn't think of the "average vs. total" point, but I liked it. Let's do the math: 1/729,500 is 4.68 sigma. If I was picking from a group that was a whole SD better, I would need to only meet a 3.68 sigma girl, that's 1 in 8,900. I don't know if I could think of a group that large and that much better in my life right now, the only thing that comes to mind is the student body of a large and excellent university. Your point would apply to a 20-year old undergrad at Columbia or NYU: they should look at other students before the rest of New York City.