How Races and Religions Match in Online Dating • Hacker News Board

Re: How Races and Religions Match in Online Dating

#41

Post by araneae » Wed, Sep 30, 2009, 2:24 AM UTC

potatolicious wrote: post #37

camccann wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Assuming they didn't deliberately shuffle the ordering just to confound people like you. Your results look depressingly plausible, though, so I'm guessing not.

As a single male Asian I am praying that the first row isn't me. But odds are it is anyway :( It certainly conforms with stereotypes about Asian girls...

You're lucky to be an Asian male... look at the black male line. It's the only one that doesn't have a single green square.

EDIT: Also, look at the response line from black females; they're all green except for the yellow square in response to black males.

Re: How Races and Religions Match in Online Dating

#42

Post by _cbsz » Wed, Sep 30, 2009, 2:32 AM UTC

hughprime wrote: post #22

hughprime wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The differences on the race graph are so small as to be insignificant.

Come to think of it, the differences on the race graph are amazingly small, given how strongly race is correlated with certain religions -- (e.g. middle-eastern people are much more likely to be Muslim, and almost all Hindus are Indian.)

I think you're confusing P(member of particular race | member of particular religion) with P(member of particular religion | member of particular race).

Re: How Races and Religions Match in Online Dating

#43

Post by Chukwu » Wed, Sep 30, 2009, 2:33 AM UTC

While I love the number crunching ethos, and think these guys are giving it one hell of a go - I will go on the record and say that they will ultimately fail because they are operating under many false premises, a few being:

1. People do not change their minds.

By algorithmically matching based on answers to questions, you must assume that those answers are meaningful. And meaningful means CONSISTENT. And people are NOT consistent. Especially on complex issues; in fact there are whole professions (sales (insurance, real estate, car, etc) comes immediately to mind) where success is based on one's ability to get people to change their minds. (That example is offered as evidence, not proof - but proof probably isnt a complicated exercise)

2. Like Thinkers make Great Daters

Assuming you are even GETTING like thinkers, (which is tenuous at best) where is it written that like thinkers make great companions? You don't want to have absolutely nothing in common, (at least a common language is necessary) but it isn't linear and i would be surprised if there were any correlation let alone one that was non-asymptotic. Simply - more like thoughts does not entail more compatibility.

3. Looks aren't EVERYTHING

Just based on sheer observation - this is not the case. It is unfortunate, and it speaks badly about human nature, but most human beings make judgments based on appearances. And this "appearance crutch" is only exacerbated when it comes to looking for someone to lay with. How many single, male, bleeding heart liberals would take a swing at Sarah Palin if given an iota of an opportunity? Again - offered as evidence, not proof.

Re: How Races and Religions Match in Online Dating

#44

Post by alanthonyc » Wed, Sep 30, 2009, 2:39 AM UTC

ecuzzillo wrote: post #10

alanthonyc wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not really. The matches are based on answers users give to questions (both site designed and user designed). When the blogger says they don't match, it means: - Person A: I like X - Person B: I don't like people who like X Where X could mean ice cream, god or tooth-brushing. It has nothing to do with people selecting the race or religion of the people they think they want to date.

Yeah, but if Hindu men like ice cream, and I don't want Hindu men, I might not like men who like ice cream either because a) it's what Hindu men do, or b) I don't like people who like ice cream to begin with, and I don't like Hindu men for that reason. So it's not totally unrelated.

Some Hindu men will say they like ice cream.

Some Hindu men will say they don't.

Re: How Races and Religions Match in Online Dating

#45

Post by CatBaby » Wed, Sep 30, 2009, 2:40 AM UTC

I can only imagine what else OkCupid's data would reveal in adept hands. I could probably write a book if they sent me a spreadsheet.

Re: How Races and Religions Match in Online Dating

#46

Post by papersmith » Wed, Sep 30, 2009, 2:48 AM UTC

Am I the only one who had a good chuckle at the zodiac grid?

Re: How Races and Religions Match in Online Dating

#47

Post by vaksel » Wed, Sep 30, 2009, 2:50 AM UTC

sharpn wrote: post #24

vaksel wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

okcupid is pretty much considered the hip version of plenty of fish.

I don't know what that means, but I did think this was a brilliant marketing post from a company, and an interesting read.

it means that plentyoffish has nothing but fat chicks(everyone calls it Plenty of Fat), while okcupid has the hipster girls

Re: How Races and Religions Match in Online Dating

#48

Post by [deleted] » Wed, Sep 30, 2009, 2:51 AM UTC

araneae wrote: post #41

potatolicious wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a single male Asian I am praying that the first row isn't me. But odds are it is anyway :( It certainly conforms with stereotypes about Asian girls...

You're lucky to be an Asian male... look at the black male line. It's the only one that doesn't have a single green square. EDIT: Also, look at the response line from black females; they're all green except for the yellow square in response to black males.

[deleted]

Re: How Races and Religions Match in Online Dating

#49

Post by hughprime » Wed, Sep 30, 2009, 2:57 AM UTC

_cbsz wrote: post #42

hughprime wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Come to think of it, the differences on the race graph are amazingly small, given how strongly race is correlated with certain religions -- (e.g. middle-eastern people are much more likely to be Muslim, and almost all Hindus are Indian.)

I think you're confusing P(member of particular race | member of particular religion) with P(member of particular religion | member of particular race).

Hmm, nope, don't think so. I picked my words pretty carefully.

Re: How Races and Religions Match in Online Dating

#50

Post by araneae » Wed, Sep 30, 2009, 3:10 AM UTC

[deleted] wrote: post #48

araneae wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're lucky to be an Asian male... look at the black male line. It's the only one that doesn't have a single green square. EDIT: Also, look at the response line from black females; they're all green except for the yellow square in response to black males.

[deleted]

Haha are you a THChubber? Yeah, there isn't... it sucks and I've been reduced to chatting on HN. What was your hub name?