The mathematics of love | Hannah Fry
TED1 HN recommenders · 2021–2026
2M views · talk · evergreen · Uploaded 2015-02-13
Mathematician Hannah Fry's TED talk on patterns in dating and mate-seeking, including optimal stopping and three math-backed tips for finding a partner.
Mentioned whenever the optimal stopping or secretary problem comes up in relation to choosing a partner.
58:51DON'T PANIC — Hans Rosling showing the facts about population
Gapminder Foundation
44:02Music Theory and White Supremacy
Adam Neely
2:23:07Alain de Botton: Status Anxiety
Alain de Botton
12:04Why Being Delusional is a Superpower
Veritasium
6:31Why Your Vote Doesn't Count
CGP Grey
7:49America Keeps Rejecting an ID Card It Already Has
CGP Grey
1:00:36Seattle is Dying | A KOMO News Documentary
KOMO News
27:19Once you understand game theory, you understand the world.
Veritasium
3 comments from Hacker News
This reminds me of Hannah Fry’s TED talk on the mathematics of love, specifically point #2 on how to pick the perfect partner. [1] It was basically about not committing to the very first person you meet, but also not searching for the perfect person in perpetuity. To paraphrase, you should pick reject the first two people that come along, and then commit to the first person that is better than everyone you previously dated. It’s not a perfect similarity, but I think the point of making a good faith effort a couple times and then really going for it once you understand a little bit makes sense. [1] [VIDEO]
Hannah Fry has a TED Talk covers this topic as well: [VIDEO] In this framing, it's based on time/age instead of number of candidates, so you don't need to know N.
Her ted talk about the math of love is so great. [VIDEO] And when she straight laughs in Michael Steven's face about the price of a pencil. [LINK]