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Lumifer comments on Rational approach to finding life partners - Less Wrong Discussion

1 Post author: c_edwards 16 August 2015 05:07PM

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Comment author: OrphanWilde 10 September 2015 03:15:33PM 4 points [-]

The Correct Rational Approach to Finding Life Partners:

Start with two facts: First, the vast majority of women are not, in fact, suitable life partners for you. Second, you are not a suitable life partner for the vast majority of women.

These imply a course of action which starts with elimination. If building an online dating profile? Your goal is not to attract as many suitable people as possible. Your goal is to -reject- as many unsuitable people as possible; this is the entry point for people looking for you, and there are far, far more unsuitable people than suitable people. The same is true in real life, which can be as simple as avoiding locations which are primarily populated by unsuitable people. (Bars, as a rule, for pretty much anybody who would be reading this.)

Likewise, when searching for people, your goal is -rejection-. If you're looking for the hottest girl in the bar - you've already failed, because you're not looking to reject people. Also, you're in a bar. Reject the locations, first. "Is this somewhere I'm likely to meet somebody who fits my interests, who who would be interested in me?" Maximize the ratio of acceptable to unacceptable people.

This is Less Wrong - go to Lindy Hop or otherwise swing dance classes. It's the nerdiest dance community you'll find, and the gender proportions, depending on where you are, will probably favor you if you're male. Also, it will help with your proprioception, which, given that you're on Less Wrong, could probably use some help anyways.

Once you've eliminated the unsuitable, do -not- pick the "best". You're probably pretty good at identifying what won't work, but you're probably pretty terrible at identifying what will.

So be open to short-term flings. These can turn into long-term relationships - although you shouldn't expect them to.

Hell, be open to casual sex. These encounters can -also- turn into long-term relationships - although, again, you shouldn't expect them to.

Be open to friendships. Once again, expect nothing.

In general - once you've eliminated the unsuitable, be open. You're looking for pearls; once you've sorted them out, don't toss the oysters overboard before you've checked. They may surprise you.

Don't seduce people into long-term relationships in any terms, let long-term relationships happen on their own. If it takes a special effort to make somebody fall in love with you, it will take a special effort, constantly, forever, for them to stay in love with you.

Comment author: Lumifer 10 September 2015 03:25:30PM *  1 point [-]

The same principle ("reject the middle, explicitly look at the tail of the distribution") as The Verjus Manifesto:

(talking about how to make good-for-you metaphorical vegetables palatable)

Vegetables can be cooked poorly. But they can also be roasted to perfection with a drizzle of olive oil and hint of sea salt.

This is certainly one approach to the preparation of otherwise unpalatable but virtuous fact-nutrition. However, here’s an alternative:

  • Take the same original plate of metaphorical vegetables
  • Chuck all the popular and/or fashionable ones away, like parsnips and kale.
  • Replace them with more bitter chard, brussels sprouts and celeriac, and other stuff that people chuck out of their vegetable boxes
  • Add some kohl-rabi and other weird rubbish. Sprinkle it with habanero peppers
  • Don’t roast it at all. Lightly dress it with unsweetened verjus and Fernet-Branca.

I think we can agree two things about this hypothetical vegetable offering:

  1. Almost nobody would look twice at it on a menu

  2. But of the half dozen people who did order it, you would want all of them to be your mates.

:-)