Thread

1. abeppu · 1790807528 · focus · HN ↗

   So on the one hand it's nice to see when a cool algorithm or framework is used IRL.

   On the other hand, actually applying a 'stable marriage algorithm' to people makes a bunch of assumptions which are worth interrogating:

   - Do people actually know what they want even in the short term?

   - Do people's preference change meaningfully over longer periods of time?

   - Does your preference _upon reading people's profiles_ have any strong relationship to your preference after spending any amount of time with them?

   The property that right after being matched, no one could have matched with someone whose profile they preferred more does not mean that this will create stable relationships.

   1. 2muchcoffeeman · 1790811593 · focus · HN ↗

      Gale-Shapely provides the best possible stable outcome for the proposing side.

      You’re never going to match with people who aren’t actively looking.

      You’re only ever going to match with the people who are looking at the same time as you.

      Your criticisms are true of real life without apps. That’s why we have this thing called “divorce”.

      Comments like these always seem to miss the point. They aren’t trying to solve marriage. They are trying to create social lubricants to get young people more interested in dating. This algorithm tries to ensure that at the very least your core values at the time match up.

Unofficial Hacker News client; not affiliated with Y Combinator.