【國際數學】《愛情數學》Mathematics of Love 讀書筆記
很推薦這本淺顯易懂的應用數學書籍，根據書名，它就是一本用數學解釋愛情的書。它不教人們如何談戀愛，但是使用數學模型解釋戀愛的現象，主動比不主動找到物件的機率大很多，化妝讓自己變成網紅臉其實不比展現真實自己找到物件的機率大，以及之後舉辦婚禮是如何發出邀請函讓婚禮現場不冷清也不擁擠。它運用簡單的邏輯，從 ‘What Are the Chances of Finding Love？’ 到 ‘How Important Is Beauty？’， 到 ‘How to Maximize a Night on the Town’，到 ‘Online Dating’，到 ’The Dating Game‘， 到 ’The Math of Sex‘， 到 ’When Should you Settle Down？‘， 到 ’How to Optimize Your Wedding‘， 最後到 ’How to Live Happily Ever After‘。
很多人都會被數學科普書裡面複雜的公式勸退，《愛情數學》裡面很少包涵公式，頂多有幾張統計的圖表用於解釋數學方法。比如在談論在其他情況不變的情況下，人們需要找到多少物件才能找到最佳選擇，作者Dr。 Hannah Fry運用的最難的數學內容只是正態分佈，展示37%這個黃金數字。作者的主要目的不是講解複雜的統計學，而是告訴人們數學其實是非常實用的，而且數學並非無趣。作者在書中闡述許多自己對數學的理解，我也在下面列舉了，希望能讓大家對數學有新的認識。
你不需要看完所有的摘錄，有些確實繁瑣又無趣。摘錄被分為三類：
粗體
，
對數學的理解
；
斜體
，
關於愛情
；細體，數學概念。
•
What is math
——“Mathematics is the language of nature。 It is the foundation stone upon which every major scientific and technological achievement of the modern era has been built。 It is alive， and it is thriving。”
• Breaking down big guess into small estimation will help to reduce error——“Drake exploited a trick well known to scientists of breaking down the estimation by making lots of little educated guesses rather than one big one。 The result of this trick is an estimate likely to be surprisingly close to the true answer， because the errors in each calculation tend to balance each other out along the way。”
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Some harsh reality
——“Life’s a banquet， and most poor suckers are starving to death！”
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The essence of judging beauty
——“The theory is that when looking for a partner， we tend to dislike unusual face shapes for fear that they mask a weird genetic mutation that we’d like to avoid passing on to our future offspring。”
• Decoy effect——“Imagine that you’re in a movie theater and choosing which snacks to buy。 Perhaps a small popcorn costs $5。00， while the large popcorn is an eye-watering $8。50。 The large option seems terribly expensive， until the cashier points out that the large popcorn is only $。50 more than the medium。 No sensible person would ever choose to buy the medium popcorn when you could have the large for only a few cents more， but the fact that the medium popcorn is on the menu has a big impact on your decisions： it serves to make the large popcorn look like a much better deal。 This is known in economics as the “decoy effect。” What it demonstrates is that the presence of an irrelevant alternative can change how you view your choices。”
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Nash’s dating method
——“When going to a party to talk to potential partners， choose a friend to go with you who is as similar-looking to you as possible， except slightly less attractive。 Having them there will make you seem like a better option。”
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Math is language of nature
——“Math is the language of nature， and by listening to what the mathematics tells us， we can all gain a better understanding of how and why we do the things we do。”
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Be motivative
——“In short， the group who do the asking and risk continual rejection actually end up far better off than the group who sit back and accept a suitor’s advances。”
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Always ask in clubs
——“If you put yourself out there， start at the top of the list， and work your way down， you’ll always end up with the best possible person who’ll have you。 If you sit around and wait for people to talk to you， you’ll end up with the least bad person who approaches you。 Regardless of the type of relationship you’re after， it pays to take the initiative。”
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Choose a goal
——“aim high， and aim frequently： The math says so。”
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Similar interests don't mean staying well in the long run
——“Of course it’s easier to engage in a conversation if you have more in common， but only just。 And it won’t necessarily help you in the long run。”
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The truth
——“No matter how hot you are， if your goal is partnership， don’t get complacent。”
• Scale-free networks——“An example of what these scale-free networks look like is on the right。 Most people have roughly the same number of connections， but there are some—like the darker circle in the middle—who have a huge number of links。 These people are known as the “hubs” of the network and are the secret to the similarities between all the seemingly unrelated power-law distributions。 Katy Perry， with 57 million followers （as of September 2014）， is the biggest hub of the Twitter network， Wikipedia is a hub of the World Wide Web， and the onion is a hub of the recipe ingredient network。 The hubs are created because of a “rich-get-richer” rule in all of these scenarios。 The more followers that Katy Perry has， the more likely people are to follow her。”
• Optimal stopping theory——“When dating is framed in this way， an area of mathematics called “optimal stopping theory” can offer the best possible strategy in your hunt for The One。 And the conclusion is surprisingly sensible： Spend a bit of time playing the field when you’re young， rejecting everyone you meet as serious life-partner material until you’ve got a feel for the marketplace。 Then， once that phase has passed， pick the next person who comes along who’s better than everyone you met before。“
• Reject the first 37% of people to get the best option——”This formula， innocent as it seems， has the power to tell you exactly how many people to reject to give you the best possible chance of finding your perfect partner。 It tells you that if you are destined to date ten people in your lifetime， you have the highest probability of finding The One when you reject your first four lovers （where you’d find them 39。87 percent of the time）。 If you are destined to date twenty people， you should reject the first eight （where Mister or Miz Right would be waiting for you 38。42 percent of the time）。 And， if you are destined to date an infinite number of partners， you should reject the first 37 percent， giving you just over a one in three chance of success。“
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What math is about in real life
——”mathematics is about—abstracting from the real world to help uncover some of the hidden patterns and relationships which otherwise would be shrouded in messy things like “emotions。”“
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Ideal relationships
——”The most successful relationships are the ones with a really low negativity threshold。 In those relationships， couples allow each other to complain， and work together to constantly repair the tiny issues between them。 In such a case， couples don’t bottle up their feelings， and little things don’t end up being blown completely out of proportion。“
感謝你的耐心看到這裡，歡迎關注HFLS Math Club，也歡迎關注【蒸汽知識庫】專欄，裡面有其他為國際高中學生寫的STEAM文章。
作者：Jimmy Hou
