The mathematics of love | Hannah Fry
Why Hacker News recommends it
Mentioned whenever the optimal stopping or secretary problem comes up in relation to choosing a partner.
What it is
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.
Recommended by 1 HN commenters across 1 different months, 2021 to 2026.
What Hacker News said
Strong rec balls187 · 2026-07 · on “Hannah Fry Wins the Leelavati Prize in 2026 for Mathematics Outreach”
Her ted talk about the math of love is so great. [this video] And when she straight laughs in Michael Steven's face about the price of a pencil. [LINK]
Cites devoutsalsa · 2021-08 · on “A Programmer’s Introduction to Mathematics”
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] [this video]
Cites nighthawk454 · 2021-12 · on “Optimizing Your Wife”
Hannah Fry has a TED Talk covers this topic as well: [this video] In this framing, it's based on time/age instead of number of candidates, so you don't need to know N.