Because It’s the Weekend: The Chances of Finding Mr./Mrs. Right

The video below by Emanuele Colombo is adorable. But, this being a statistics blog, I have to take a small issue with the calculation in the video. Let’s take a look at the math:

7,000,000 people
× 0.04 (proportion one person might meet) 
× 0.5 (proportion sexually compatible — hey, count yourself lucky!)
× 0.08 (proportion age compatible)
× 0.12 (proportion language compatible)
= 1,340,000 potential partners.

As any statistics student will tell you, you can’t just multiply all those factors together willy-nilly. For example, the chance of meeting any given person is not independent from the chance they’ll be language-compatible — most people you meet will be in your own city/country, of whom more than 12% are likely to speak the same language.

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Should the RFP Die? Probably. Will it? Probably Not.

But it’s still adorable. (And I’m glad I too have a soulmate who can put up with these geeky obsessions. Thanks, honey!)

Have a great weekend, all.