Sunday, January 5, 2014

Finding True Love, Brit Style

I'm an incurable romantic as well as a statistics fan, and naturally I was gravitated to this article in the Daily_Mail which reported on the average number of happenings that U.K. misses had on their way to TRUE LOVE!  I'm assuming this is the once-in-a-lifetime, we'll have our fiftieth anniversary type . . . .

Anyway, the poodyheads that wrote the article gave the raw numbers:

Women typically have 7 relationships beforehand, men 8.

Both men and women typically chalk up 4 disaster dates.  Sorrowfully, no juicy details.

A woman gets stood up once; a bloke twice.

Women have 4 one-night stands; men 6.

Women typically kissed 15 guys; guys 16 women.

Women typically have 7 sexual partners; men 10.

Both men and women have lived in with the other sex once.

Both women and men have fallen in love twice before the real deal!

Apparently, there's a lot of ground that must be covered in the meanwhile.  Anyway, the process is not easy.

I'm concerned.  I've exceeded my kiss quotient a bit: does this make me Easy in Training, or is there a statute of limitations on kisses more freely engaged in high school or before?  And here's something else: the so-called public displays of affection.  In my opinion, these are a species-specific pattern of marking territory; of claiming the one kissed as one's own. 



And what about friends with benefits?  Or. friends with minor benefits?  Do our Brits go in for this?  Likewise, what about risqué selfies?

Disaster dates, while painful while going on, often provide grist for the same-sex conversation mill.  "Can you believe that he was so rude as to drop me off at the Morning Call and pick up with someone else?"  "He went to sleep during the movie."  "He took another girl out at the same time as me.  I wondered, is he thinking of a threesome?"

Anyway, a caution with respect to statistics like this bandied around: don't assume that the good ole normal distribution is in play: 





Very often, a skewed distribution might be the true one.  That is, a smaller number of overly active individuals might drive the mean (arithmetic average) higher than would be due to a normal distribution, but the larger number (the mode) are considerably less active on that dimension.*




I suspect that Brits are just a little more circumspect about affection.  For example, Mr. Darcy might kiss Lizzy on their fifth anniversary, if he was inclined to be forward and both felt daring after a bracing evening of whist.  Heathcliff, ever impulsive, was quicker on the mark with Cathy.   Becky Sharp?  Your call on that.   And I've about exhausted my recall of English novel characters for now.

*Some people call them "sluts" or "skanks."

12 comments:

  1. What about those that go in the other direction, the non-participants?

    ReplyDelete
  2. well, i'm behind on the stats (way behind) so i'll even you out, okay? :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. I married young and am keep the statistical data low on the men's side. Should I consider some discrete extra-curricular activity to keep up with the average?

    ReplyDelete
  4. As a Midwest farmer's daughter, I learned how to make guys feel alright (to paraphrase the Beach Boys).

    ReplyDelete
  5. It is a good idea to comparison shop. Take that as you wish.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I've never seen a standard deviation curve marked with half deviations. This is exciting stuff.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Having more to share is hardly to be criticized by paler, less vibrant prudes!

    You go girl! (As far as YOU wish)

    Aloha
    You ought to read my sexy little Hawaii novel displayed at my blog. There's even a Kindle version! Ciao Bella

    ReplyDelete
  8. When I started with statistics, I thought a standard deviation was the product of a perv with limited imagination.

    Disaster date stories would surely merit a blog in itself.

    ReplyDelete
  9. In my opinion, a small percent of both men and women have unusually high levels of sexual experience, both in frequency and variety.

    ReplyDelete
  10. In my opinion, you're not overdoing it if you can remember every one. Getting snogged while drunk is no way to go.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Forget standard deviation ... I'll go with nonstandard deviation any day. Since I somehow missed out on the action during the Sexual Revolution of the 60's, I'm trying to make up for lost time now ... in MY 60's.

    ReplyDelete