Here’s the dilemma. There are 7.5 billion people in the world, and you need to find *the one*. The one who looks at you like the bloke in the video looking at his pint.
But even if you narrowed it down to people of a certain age, interests, language etc. clearly it is impossible to managerthat many swipes and small talk to find the person who most does it for you. And of course they might not reciprocate, and as every know woman doesn’t need reminding the clock is ticking.
But luckily there is an algorithm that can help. It comes down to the science of ‘optimal stopping’, and the number is 37%, according to the book ‘Algorithms to live by: the science of human decision’. That is the point at which, when you have viewed 37% of the options so far, that you should choose the best option available that is better than all the previous ones you have rejected. …
For six months, after our family home was flooded, I lived in the shadow of the St George’s Tower in Vauxhall courtesy of our insurance. A nice gig if you can get it, but finding a temporary flat with room for a toddler near to our nursery in Stockwell illustrated the shortage of family-sized homes in North Lambeth. The building has today been featured in The Guardian as a monument to London’s broken housing system.
Nicknamed ‘the deodorant can’ locally, the tower overshadows the river creating a wind tunnel that would almost blow me over when I tried to push my son in his buggy around it. I once tried to take a short cut past the front entrance of the tower, only to get chased out by a member of staff who clearly recognised that I wasn’t one of the resident oligarchs. …
Living in the shadow of St George
For six months, after our family home was flooded, I lived in the shadow of the St George’s Tower in Vauxhall courtesy of our insurance. A nice gig if you can get it, but finding a temporary flat with room for a toddler near to our nursery in Stockwell illustrated the shortage of family-sized homes in North Lambeth. The building has today been featured in The Guardian as a monument to London’s broken housing system.
Nicknamed ‘the deodorant can’ locally, the tower overshadows the river creating a wind tunnel that would almost blow me over when I tried to push my son in his buggy around it. I once tried to take a short cut past the front entrance of the tower, only to get chased out by a member of staff who clearly recognised that I wasn’t one of the resident oligarchs. …
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