The size of my dating pool. Based on my own and other peoples filters.
I have had a few threads that end up being about the problems that crop up when I tell someone I am a physicist.
They withdraw and react negatively. I think that at least half the time it's based on their religious faith.
It's a real problem because it seems to me that it really cuts down my dating pool by a great deal.
Let's call D the total number of people who are not married or engaged and of legal age to be theoretically date able at some point in the near future. d will be the number who are left after I introduce myself.
My work offends the deeply religious young earth creationist. Half of all Americans are young earth creationist. d=1/2D
Then factor in things that I have decided I need in order to be able to have a lasting relationship. After much agonizing and bad dates with people who did not fit these guidelines....
They have to have to be about as intelligent and creative as I am, and/or about as educated as I am. If they aren't one of those two things then it never works out.
So I will use the imperfect measure that is IQ as a stand in for intelligence and creativity just for the sake of this argument. About 16% of people are comparable to me in that department give or take 15 points.
About 40% of Americans have a Bachelors degree or better.
Averaging these two things thats 0.28 of Americans are intellectually compatible with me.
d=0.28(1/2 D)
Now lets consider my sexual orientation and gender identity. What number of people are apt to accept that? Well I think that percentages of people that favor gay marriage or civil unions are a good indication of that. According to that about 27% support Civil Unions and 1/3 support marriage. So that's a factor of .6
d=.6(.28(.5D))
Of course they need to be unmarried unmarried according to the census as being D that means my dating pool consist of.
d=.52(.6(.28(.5D)))
IF I take the number of people between the age of 25 and 35. D=62 Million
d=.52(.6(.28(.5(62Million))))
My dating pool consist of 2.7 Million people spread out over the entire United States of America. That's 2.7 out of 307 Million people. Or one out of every 100 people (male and female)
So in a crowd of several hundred there will be two or three that I have a legit chance of having a RLShip with. The odds are against me meeting such a person unless I make an effort to really mix with EVERYONE in such a crowd. Even the most socially skilled and thickest skinned would be worn down by the amount of rejection that would take.
Notice someone just like me who is not a scientist has twice the odds of meeting someone compatible as I do simply based on the religion factor alone.
I did not count the people who are averse to scientist for other reasons.
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