Backus reimagined the equation by inserting U.K. population figures along with the general parameters for his potential girlfriend: a woman between the age of 24 and 34, with a university degree, whom he finds attractive. Simple enough. But there are complications. First, the woman in question must find him attractive (a 1-in-20 chance, he estimated). Second, she must herself be single (50-50). Lastly, he must get along with her (1-in-10).
The result of the equation? Of the roughly 30 million women in the U.K., only 26 are potential mates for Backus. In his conclusion to the paper, Backus expresses this more depressingly: "On a given night in London, there is a 0.0000034 percent chance of meeting one of these special people."
Date: January 14th, 2010 2:29 PM Author: Big judgmental station cuck
Finding a mate would be utterly impossible except for the fact that the necessary traits are extremely highly correlated. For example, the 1 woman in 20 who finds him attractive is more than 10% likely to get along with him.
The Drake equation only works if the factors are independent.
This is also why (in reference to the dating thread) there are more great WOC (defined here as black, Asian, and Latina) than white women. No one is arguing that WOC are on average smarter, better looking, funnier, or nicer than white women (they might be, but I have no idea when it comes to averages). The difference is that the correlations are much stronger in WOC, so there are more women hitting the high notes. People whom one chooses to date in an upper-middle-class milieu are already pre-selected for intelligence and attractivness, so the WOC is more likely to also have a great personality.
She had been working as an accounting drone (read: Empire) but then moved to the development department of a humanitarian organization (read: Returners). Also, she was blonde and very attractive. We talked for hours about poker strategy and I indulged her basic understanding of C++. (You understand that there were a few processes I was hoping to iterate with her, after a reasonable number of dates! I had to be a little indulgent.)
But when I mentioned I had friends in BIGLAW who had been similarly disillusioned by the Kefkaesque corporate world, she giggled and mentioned Miranda from Sex and the City. COMPLETE buzzkill. The integrity of my penis was SEVERELY compromised by her statement, you know what I mean? I don't know whether I should try and look past it or just not return her calls.
I know a little Lisp. I'm not on your level, it's just avocational for me. I hadn't considered that she might have meant Maranda. She did mention something about Lola, but I thought she meant a song. Do you think it means she has a dead boyfriend.
Like all great philosophers, your insight raises more questions than it does answers, but now I know I have to call her back.
Date: January 14th, 2010 3:07 PM Author: Big judgmental station cuck
One good bit of news regarding the SatC followers is that they all seem to be traveling toward one of Kefka's new office towers, which makes them easily identifiable. Be cautious of that tower, however. It's full of annoying and powerful magic-using, casual-sexing creatures, so don't go in unless you're prepared. You also need Life3 because the casual-sexing PimpMaster at the top does over 9000 damage with his Ultima spell when he dies.
I have a teammate who knows Life3, but he's highly susceptible to physical attacks and status conditions. I've been walking around with my dead cat's ashes in my backpack so I expect to get some new skills soon.
Date: January 14th, 2010 3:17 PM Author: Big judgmental station cuck
Should I assume that the dead cat's ashes is magicite? Supposedly, if you pour magicite on a casual sexer, his or her junk explodes. I'd imagine it's fun to watch.
For the record, I wouldn't say that familiarity with SatC is a necessary sign of a woman being unheroic. Pretty much every woman saw that movie. My mom saw it (and found it pathetic and disgusting). It's only if a woman aspires to have Carrie Bradshaw's life that it's a problem.
Date: January 14th, 2010 2:44 PM Author: bateful laser beams
oh, right. i meant this was my experience with most black women. i was responding to the guy above that said that these girls have a 50% chance of having a good personality. i greatly disagree.
Date: January 14th, 2010 2:49 PM Author: dashing self-absorbed church
I'm not talking about Pensive (who's obviosly smart, but I have no idea how good looking he is nor do I care), I'm talking about the Backus guy, who's a Math phD or something.
Date: January 14th, 2010 3:09 PM Author: mind-boggling stead
Pensive, tell me about the interview process for your finance job. Did you have a contact at the firm? Fly out to NYC to interview? How many rounds or interviews? What did they ask? Puzzles? Brainteasers? How deep were the math questions? Optimization? Probability? Programming?
Date: January 14th, 2010 3:15 PM Author: Big judgmental station cuck
No contact at the firm. Already lived in New York. 1 phone screen plus a single day of interviews (all day). Only obnoxious firms expect more than 1 day of in-person interviews, because job-searching is tough if you're employed.
Puzzles and brainteasers were pretty tough, but the math isn't deep in the PhD-y sense. You don't need to know math beyond the college level, but you need to have sharp problem-solving skills.
I actually invented one of the brainteasers you're likely to come across if you interview at DE Shaw. I didn't get the job, but they are using a brainteaser I discussed informally (with a guy who really liked me and fought for me to get hired).