Why the Perfect Gal/Guy is hard to find?

To my young friends who's below Ted Mosby's age,

Many a times, we complain that there's no perfect girl (or guy) for us, and that they exist only in stories. Well, it's true. To know why this is true, read further.

Note: This is a mathematical analysis of why it is so hard to find the Perfect Girl (or Guy). However, it's not so tough, if you've some background in probability.

List down all the attributes that you see in your perfect girl. Taking my example, here's a list for the perfect girl, in no particular order. (Girls can follow the same exercise too).

1. She is cute
2. She is kind
3. She has beautiful eyes
4. She is intelligent
5. She is caring
6. She is smart
7. She is highly educated (at least a master's degree)
8. She is sexy
9. She is innocent but not so innocent as to be stupid
10. She is tall but not taller than me
11. She has a great sense of humor which match my type of humor
12. She comes from a good family
13. She belongs to one of Zodiac sign - Pisces/Scorpio/Taurus/Virgo
14. She is elegant
15. She can hold a witty, intelligent conversation with me for hours
16. We speak a common language
17. She is independent
18. She has read "Lord of the Rings" and enjoyed it
19. She has read "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" and enjoyed it
20. She has heard of Terry Pratchett
21. She loves music
22. She loves movies
23. Pink Floyd is one of her favorite band
24. She is a Star Wars fan
25. She loves Dilbert, and/or Calvin Hobbes
26. She loves dogs
27. She likes the rain
28. She likes flowers
29. She is not cynical about love
30. She likes art, and loves to paint/sing/dance/photograph/write.

Now, consider this. The probability of each attribute finding in a girl is 1/2. (Ask yourself if the girl has the attribute or not. The answer is yes/no. I mean, you either find a girl cute or not, there's no middle part).

Now, all these attributes are independent. So, the probability of meeting your perfect girl is a whooping (1/2)^30 or 1/1.07 billion.

Considering that the world's population is currently at 6.6 billion, and considering 50% of these are women, and of these, 50% are eligible, and in the correct age range (+5, -10 years), and considering life expectancy is 75 years and that women's ages are distributed uniformly, the universe of women where you'll find the perfect one is

50%*50%*20%*6.6 billion, or, 320 millions

Now, multiply the probability of finding the perfect girl with the universe of eligible women, and it becomes

1/1.07billion * 320 millions = 0.3

So, if you've around 30 attributes that you seek in your perfect girl, you'll find only 0.3 eligible girls in the entire world, and since girls come as wholes, that number just goes down to 0 (zero), or impossible.

But the good news is, if you can reduce the attributes to just 20, the number of eligible girls improves to 305, still a very small. If you can further reduce down the attribute to 15, your chances improve to 9765. However, if you restrict the attributes to 10, it is a dramatic improvement to 312,500 girls, and with 5 only, it is 10,000,000 girls.

The point is not to stop looking for the Perfect Girl, but to rather limit the attributes that you look in a girl to a very very small but important ones to improve your chance.

So, when someone asks me (again) what I look in my Perfect Girl, here it is...

1. She has beautiful eyes

2. She is caring

3. We speak a common language

4. She is innocent but not to the point of stupidity

5. She can hold a witty, intelligent conversation with me

6. She is cute

(If you're wondering how many girls exist, according to my calculation, it is 5,000,000).

My point is, my young friends, lower your expectation and you'll see lots more eligible girls than you think.

Ciao,

Bij

The Cricket and The Wanderer - A light musical

The leaves are washed with the moon's light,

And the only sound is the sound of the night.

The wanderer's eyes fell on the cricket,

Singing its song in the wild thicket.

Alone, and clueless - beholds his sight.

"What is it that you are doing?

Wasting your time just singing?

Why don't you do something useful

And make your life meaningful?

Tell me, O Cricket, what are you thinking?"

With a look that only something with antennae can give,

The wise nocturnal thus replies, "You, I sincerely forgive

For your uninvited interruption and arrogance

Stems from your profound ignorance.

Don't you see, this is the way to live!

"Those questions asked for free,

The answers are not for me.

To live is to live in the moment,

Without thinking where your life went,

And thank your stars truly."

Thus saying, the cricket goes to its song,

And the wanderer wonders if he's wrong.

The leaves are washed with the moon's light,

And the only sound is the sound of the night.

And I think the poet has gone far too long.

So stopping here.

Hope you enjoyed it... J

Tortuously yours,

Bij Chabs

A really short honest HR interview

Suppose you're appearing for a job interview for ABC Ltd, an MNC.

Suppose you've spent many countless hours anticipating and preparing and reviewing and practicing and did i mention, reviewing those HR questions.

Suppose you arrive at the interview venue 1 hour early in your impeccably smart suit, with that nice haircut (and makeup), looking and feeling very confident.

Suppose you just find out, they've attached a lie-detector device.

So, here I'm, trying to reconstruct such an interview (from my own and others' experiences).

Interviewer : Tell me about yourself

You: I'm blah blah blah (So far so good... You passed with no beeping sound)

Interviewer: Why ABC Ltd?

You: Well, I've always wanted to work for ABC Ltd. (Beeep) I mean, it's a great company (Beeep). (Now looking sheepishly)... I got my only call from your company.

Interviewer: Ok, that's what we expected. We didn't want to hear any bull shits. That's fine. So, the role that you've applied for - are you really happy with it?

You: Yes (Beeep). I mean I'm not really unhappy with it.

Interview: Alrite. How about the compensation? Are you happy with it?

You: Yes (Beeep). No, but I'm desperate for this job, any job.

Interview: Rite. Thanks for your honesty, we admire honest people here. (No beeps here, the lie detector was only for the candidate). You are hired.

You: Thank you, really appreciate it. (Beeeep)

You run.

A little incident @ the airport

I'm writing this blog from the Imphal airport. The plane from New Delhi is fortunately on time, and considering it's an Indian Airlines flight and given the current fogginess in Delhi, it's a small miracle. Anyways, here I'm in this small airport, which is surprisingly much cleaner and better than many other airports I've seen. The 3 LCD TVs are playing India vs Sri Lanka live on DD National.

Well, a funny thing happened. I thought I saw my ex; she was reading a book. Now, that's an awkward moment, especially so when the break-up hadn't been too amicable. You're also aware of the fact that the sight of your ex didn't extract any emotions from you - neither anger, nor affection, or any emotion at all, except for the awkwardness of the moment, and the hesitation whether to say hello or just ignore her. But it's been more than 5 years now, and you'd kind of think you've moved on, and so, there's no reason of showing attitude or letting ego come in the way. Maybe a little civility will go a long way, perhaps!

So, I just kind of strolled up to her and say, "Hi, ----". She didn't response at first, so I said a little louder, "Hi, ----". She looked up and I saw no hint of recognition in her eyes. I thought maybe it's my new mustache, but a doubt had crept up in me. So, I asked her, "Aren't you, ----?" She said, "No".

Now, if it's not an embarrassing moment, I don't know what is. Especially, if you'ven't been trying to hit on her in the first place. I mean I just sounded like someone who was using a cheesy line which doesn't work anymore (or ever). And this add more embarrassment to my already embarrassing faux pas.

Damn, five years' a long time to forget a face, or confuse someone else's for another one. I know some of you will feel it's unforgivable to forget a face; especially of someone you'd actually felt affectionate to; but funny, all I can think of is, "Thank God!"

[Of course, a tiny little voice made me consider I might be right, and that she might just be trying to pretend otherwise to brush me off, but that's none-the-less embarrassing.]

Smilingly yours,

Bij :)