BACKGROUND: The Drake Equation (named after the astronomer) proposes that the number of intelligent civilizations in our galaxy is equal to the number of stars times the fraction of those which have planets, times the fraction of those planets which are habitable, times the fraction of those that actually have life, etc., etc, and finally, times the fraction of those that have intelligent life.
A similar formula can be proposed for online dating. I call this the Dork Equation :)
Number of girls on an online dating site with whom a relationship might be possible
=
Total number of girls on the dating site
x
fraction that fit your search parameters
fraction of those whose profiles/pictures you like
fraction of the above that you actually write to
fraction of the above who write back
fraction of the above who write back more than one sentence/show interest in you
fraction of the above who can communicate halfway intelligently
fraction of the above who don't disappear after a few messages
fraction of the above who you talk to on the telephone
fraction of the above who agree to a first date
fraction of the above whom you want to keep dating
fraction of the above who agree to a subsequent date
fraction of the above who you have physical chemistry with
This can be easily summarized as: N = NG x fs x fp x fw x fwb x fws x fwi x fnd x ft x ffd x fkd x fsd x fpc
The fun part is that online dating services can help you compute this. Some values will require user input, like the physical chemistry question. But many of the others can be populated or estimated by the dating service/website itself.-- phundug, Feb 24 2012 Basic Instructions (comic) http://basicinstruc...-to-get-a-date.htmlGuaranteed ways to get a date: 1. lower your standards 2. change your preference 3. both [sninctown, Feb 25 2012] Show this off at your first date Drake_27s_20Equation_20Calculator [theircompetitor, Feb 28 2012] Dating pool grows instead of shrinking http://xkcd.com/314/ [Psalm_97, Feb 28 2012] Could be used as comparative data for dating purposes. "Hey there gals! I'm a SWM with a DEF rating of 6.2 who loves Star Trek, and am lookin for a green-skinned love slave..."
Factors should include how much time spent discussing RS-232 protocol on invention websites.-- RayfordSteele, Feb 24 2012 // summarized as: N = NG x fs x fp x fw x fwb x fws x fwi x fnd x ft x ffd x fkd x fsd x fpc //
Can be summarised as N -> 0 for all values of NG,fs, fp , fw, fwb, fws, fwi, fnd, ft, ffd, fkd and fsd.
The physical chemistry one is, however, relevant, as it would be possible to achieve high grades in - for example - Organic chemistry or Electrochemistry, but still do badly in Physical Chemistry.
Also, limiting the selection to those with good Chemistry qualifications is a bit restrictive but not necessarily a bad thing.-- 8th of 7, Feb 24 2012 OkCupid is already doing extensive stastical analysis on their user databse. I belive at this point they've determined the three best questions to ask on a first date, based on the fact that the top three actual compatability factors (which are akward to ask) correlate extremely strongly with answers to said questions.-- MechE, Feb 24 2012 [+]
Where your math breaks down is that these factors are not independent.
I propose: N= number of women on site x fraction of the above who are no more than 1/6th of a standard deviation more conventionally attractive than you x fraction of the above who you don't find annoying either in text or person
Note: when judging attractiveness, consider all aspects of a person (character, ability) and not just physical appearance.
Look, people generally agree about who's desirable. If you want to date, get an honest idea of your own attractiveness and then ask out people who are slightly less hot than you. If the thought of that disgusts you, improve yourself until you're slightly more conventionally attractive than the people you want to date.-- sninctown, Feb 25 2012 Or lower its standards.-- mouseposture, Feb 28 2012 Reminds me of an xkcd comic about dating pools. [link]-- Psalm_97, Feb 28 2012 Maybe this should be appended to the Drake Equation. I mean, maybe there's somebody Out There, but we're just not their type.-- lurch, Feb 29 2012 random, halfbakery