Reply To: 100% Solution to Shidduch Crisis–Goral

Here is a paradox:

According to the age-gap theory, we could completely solve the problem by simply telling girls to wait until 22 to start dating, the same age as the boys. Presto, the playing field is now level. For every girl there is one boy. So to maximize the girls’ chances, they should start dating later.

However, if it were your daughter, you would tell her to start dating as early as possible to maximize her chances, and not to wait. This gives her a few more years to find a guy while she is still young. She can get quite a few dates in during those years from 19-22.

How do you explain the contradiction? The answer seems to be that everybody knows that to really be fair to everybody, the girls would need to wait. However, because they care more about their own personal situation, each wants to jump in as soon as possible, although that will actually cause some to be left out. Each one acts thinking it won’t be me who is left out, so why should I wait….