Thread

Singapore govt dating app uses Gale-Shapley stable marriage algorithm

466 points · 499 comments · rzk

missedthecue · 1790812270 · focus · HN ↗
Begging economists and dating app designers to understand that the problems with the dating market are not a matching problem but a clearing problem. It's very tempting to think that if one could devise a sufficiently clever algorithm they could solve these problems but it's simply barking up the wrong tree.
1. jfengel · 1790813659 · focus · HN ↗
  What's a clearing problem? (A quick Google did not turn up an answer.)
  1. dotcoma · 1790813752 · focus · HN ↗
    [dead]
    truculent · 1790814122 · focus · HN ↗
    > the problems with the dating market are not a matching problem but a clearing problem.
    > In markets, it can mean buyers and sellers aren’t being matched at the expected price/quantity.
  2. kylecazar · 1790814315 · focus · HN ↗
    I think they meant post-match personal incompatibilities exist that can't be accounted for in even the most thorough profile
  3. missedthecue · 1790814469 · focus · HN ↗
    It's tempting to think of the problems of a dating market as a matching problem because men and women are almost equal in numbers so we just have to match them all up. A clearing problem occurs in markets, (even markets with ~equal supply and demand) when the reserve price of the transaction is not met. For example, the reason I don't own a Ferrari isn't because there isn't 1 Ferrari out there for sale, it's because I don't have enough cash to clear the transaction. Building a more powerful car sales website won't fix this problem. The reserve price is not met.
    The dating market is similarly full of people who would like to clear transactions (economist speak for form a relationship), yet cannot because they do not meet the reserve price of those they want to date.
    I hope my Ferrari analogy helps to illustrate the core concept, but you have realize that dating markets are even tougher than car markets, because dating is a barter market. For a transaction to clear, there needs to be a double coincidence of wants -- you can't simply use a medium of exchange like dollars to cut the transaction in half. Imagine if to buy a Ferrari you had to find a seller who also happened to need $350k worth of Linux sysadmin work done.
    s1artibartfast · 1790815916 · focus · HN ↗
    This seems to raise the question of why there is a clearing problem.
    Is it fair to say a clearing problem is a missmatch of expectations?
    It seems to me that people are simultaneously becoming more specific and demanding, while simultaneously seeking risk aversion and comfort
    loeg · 1790818540 · focus · HN ↗
    Well, also the dating market is illiquid, with high transaction costs and incomplete information.
    Gigachad · 1790826535 · focus · HN ↗
    I think this is just too finance brained and that the problem is not that everyone got too good for each other, but that everyone replaced in-person socialization with scrolling social media at home. So people simply do not bump in to each other to actually form relationships.
    The nose dive in relationships kicked off when smartphones came in to society. I'm not sure the concept of dating apps is fixable. We need to get people out of the house again.
    lotsofpulp · 1790875102 · focus · HN ↗
    <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hestat/marriage_rate_2018/marriage_rate_2018.pdf" rel="nofollow">https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hestat/marriage_rate_2018/marr...
    <a href="https://usafacts.org/articles/state-relationships-marriages-and-living-alone-us/" rel="nofollow">https://usafacts.org/articles/state-relationships-marriages-...
    Marriage rate declines started in the 1980s, maybe even before.
    Seems to line up with women gaining financial independence, and no-fault divorce.
    Related, divorce rates have declined since the 1970s:
    <a href="https://ifstudies.org/blog/divorce-in-decline-about-40-of-todays-marriages-will-end-in-divorce" rel="nofollow">https://ifstudies.org/blog/divorce-in-decline-about-40-of-to...
    Seems like there were a lot of partnerships of necessity before, and once that necessity goes away, so does the incentive to partner up.
2. dotcoma · 1790813692 · focus · HN ↗
  So why, in your opinion, do people not finalise the deal?
  1. missedthecue · 1790813792 · focus · HN ↗
    They do not want to.
    More specifically, they would rather be single than pair with any of the options that are realistically available to them. Hence, the market fails to clear.
    dotcoma · 1790814430 · focus · HN ↗
    I agree. I sure hope their government will not step in at that point and offer too many incentives to get married and disincentives to stay single, but I would not rule out this is exactly part of the plan...
    derangedHorse · 1790826251 · focus · HN ↗
    > they would rather be single than pair with any of the options that are realistically available to them
    I don't know if the matching problem has been fully explored enough to ascertain this is the case.
    In the western world, people will go out with someone they find undesirable with the intention of reaping the benefits of short term relationships. I think this sometimes sets unrealistic expectations on those undesirable people and further muddies the water. I wonder if there's a way to impose a cost on those who are not in it for the long term.
  2. porphyra · 1790813874 · focus · HN ↗
    too kiasu
3. [deleted] · 1790814238 · focus · HN ↗
  [deleted]
4. joegibbs · 1790815549 · focus · HN ↗
  Perhaps then the government could spend money producing propaganda to convince people to lower their standards. Maybe they could fund TV shows about unattractive people with no money having a good time together - I think China is doing something similar.

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