What are the odds...

"Soulmate, two little words one big concept, a belief that someone, somewhere is holding the key to your heart and your dream house. All you have to do is find them, so, where is this person? And if you loved someone and it didn't work out, does that mean they weren't your soulmate? were they just a runner-up contestant in this game show called Happily ever after? And as you move from age box to age box and the contestants get fewer and fewer, are your chances of finding your soulmate less and less? Soulmates... reality or torture device?"

As I lie in bed for another restless night, I start over thinking/analysing the events of my night... the new people i've met and the past that I can't seem to run away from. It has got me thinking... why are people so different? Why is that we all look so similar on the outside, yet we are completely different on the inside? Nature or nurture? (I'll leave this for a complete different entry) It has also got me thinking... what are the odds of us meeting new people and most importantly - our soulmate?

I'm not a mathematical person, but let's think about it. If you meet x number of people in your life time (life expectancy of 90) and then the odds of you falling in love with them and for them to love you back... and then you have factor in the ones that actually work out... And if you want to get married before 30 (biological clock ticking speak)... that means your odds are cut by one-third again... Pretty sure the number would be ever so close to 0...

So let's be more hopeful and think about dating. I read up the maths of dating... this is called the Barny Stinson "Formula for dating success"

So Barny worked in a telemarketing call centre and compared dating as the same logic...

In a call centre,  for every 100 numbers that are dialed, you would speak to 25 people.  Of those 25 people, 5 would be interested in whatever you were selling.  Of those 5 people, only 1 would buy what you were selling. 

So the formula is:
 [ (P x 0.25) 0.2 ]  / 5

What that says is this:  for each amount of new acquaintances you make (P), you will need to multiply by 25% for initial attraction (assuming that 1 in 4 people don't want to run screaming from you).  This may include exchanging contact information.  From that 25%, multiple by 0.2 to reduce that number to people that will show interest beyond the polite drunken number swap and agree to a date.  From that number, divide by 5 to get the number of people that would, statistically, enter into a relationship with you.  So, if we assume that P = 100, then on average, 25 people will exchange numbers; of those 25, 5 will agree to a date; of those 5, 1 will be your new girlfriend/boyfriend.


I am probably one of the most biggest love advocates/hopeless romantic individuals that hide their identity... The concept of love at first sight, soulmate, serendipty (ok i'll admit it, even prince charming) never seem unrealistic to me. We were always taught that we shouldn't settle for anyone less than 'the one'. We were always told that It is better to be alone than to be in bad company. We were always told about the exceptional stories of people meeting and falling in love... So should we believe the numbers or live in false hope?

Should love be book shelved in the genre of non-fiction or fantasy?... But if the odds are so futile, why are there so many people getting married and starting a new family everyday...?