4 ms·

The lemon problem, as you highlight, is due to asymmetric information. The mechanisms you mention fix that: mechanics check a car before it is certified, the wa

by FabHK 7y ago

The lemon problem, as you highlight, is due to asymmetric information. The mechanisms you mention fix that: mechanics check a car before it is certified, the warranty as well as the value of the brand (reputational damage) shift incentives against cheating on that check. Similarly, in matchmaking, usually the matchmaker knows both parties, warrants that they are ok, and his reputation suffers if they aren’t. A real innovation would be to solve this problem of asymmetric information in dating in a similarly robust, yet scalable fashion. For example: * Credible testimonies from ex-partners * Certification of claimed characteristics (photos, age, weight, income, educational achievement, ...) * ??? * profit I don’t know how to achieve these - I’m pretty sure blockchain is not the solution, but something might be possible in that space.

fiblye 7y ago
Credible testimony is a big problem. People who’ve moved on won’t want to really talk about it much. Meanwhile those who haven’t moved on will replay every bad moment in their head and do their best to make that other person look like a demon, and some just outright lie because they want to take the other person down. It’s hard to know if that person really was an asshole, or if the person writing the review was the asshole. The only way to know is to accumulate a bunch of separate reviews and maybe try some complicated ML algorithm on the intricacies of the messages/find trends in a person’s reviews (if everyone around them is negative, it’s probably not other people), but...if you start to get to a point where someone has an obvious trend, they’ve probably been through loads of partners, and people looking for dating and not hookups generally don’t want someone who’s churning through new partners constantly. If you have a solution to this problem, divorce attorneys around the world would pay you for it. It’s way more valuable than a dating app.
- throw_away 7y ago
  If not even one of your exes would be willing to give a positive testimony, that in itself is a fairly powerful signal.
  - novok 7y ago
    A lot of people only have a number of exes that they could measure on one hand. It's not like credit reporting or playing fortnight where you can prove 'your references' multiple times a month.
  - snerbles 7y ago
    And for those that don't have exes?
    - throw_away 7y ago
      This is a bootstrapping problem that must be overcome, much like with credit reporting or finding a job or renting an apartment, but I still think it's a bit far to say that even most people who have dated before are on poor or non-existent terms with every single one of their exes. This certainly doesn't match my experience.
      - fiblye 7y ago
        There's a very large number who simply cut ties entirely if it's possible. It's pretty much the most common advice given when breaking up. Among the people I've known, people who don't mind interacting with previous partners are anomalies.
      - adrianN 7y ago
        We should just offer unpaid dating internships so that people can build up a relationship rating before entering the market proper /s
        masonic 7y ago
        A Bootycamp?
  - deckard1 7y ago
    I can't imagine a world where exes get a say in my future dating prospects, positive or negative. Jesus christ HN. Not everything is a datapoint to be gamified and exploited.
zamalek 7y ago
Self-disclosure seems like easy low-hanging fruit. I respectfully ended a relationship with a poly individual long before she did anything that I would have considered cheating. It became a question I asked on every first date, and I am now engaged to a mono individual. You might be surprised how many individual would openly admit that they are mono, poly, casual or what-have-you, provided that they are not discriminated for admitting it. I'm incompatible with non-mono sexualities and being open about that spectrum allows me to avoid "cheaters" and them to avoid "clingy." Apps can then strictly filter according to those preferences (some allow disclosure, all have fuzzy filtering at best). I don't think the core idea in the post would work, though. Scarcity would only be present in the app, genders that enjoy a natural abundance of choice would probably open the other apps after swiping left on everyone in this one.
- paulddraper 7y ago
  All apps already have "self-disclosure." That's the algorithmic match and the human match. I am X looking for Y, etc.
  - zamalek 7y ago
    I've never encountered I am "mono" looking for "mono" and I've used many of them.
    - nwienert 7y ago
      Brb calling my monogamous dating app “mono a mono”
      - kubanczyk 7y ago
        It means "monkey to monkey" in spanish, so... good luck, I guess.
    - paulddraper 7y ago
      https://help.okcupid.com/article/59-how-to-use-match-search https://help.okcupid.com/article/59-how-to-use-match-search > Monogamy status And then of course every single dating site lets you write custom descriptions. (Though IMO it's fair to assume monogamy since that is the overwhelming majority. [1]) [1] https://www.npr.org/2019/02/18/695731314/the-new-sexual-revolution-polyamory-on-the-rise-listen https://www.npr.org/2019/02/18/695731314/the-new-sexual-revo...
leetcrew 7y ago
this may be a low emotional intelligence take, but I've often thought that dating and hiring are fairly similar problems. you're almost suggesting that people submit dating resumes and cover letters for consideration. on the one hand it seems strange that we don't use even the weakest signals used by hiring managers when we search for potential matches. on the other hand, this would obviously take a lot of the "humanity" (for lack of a better word) out of the process. for what it's worth, I've never really encountered issues with people outright lying or seriously misrepresenting themselves on dating apps. the people I've met up with were more or less "as advertised". I think the problem is more that a couple pictures and a short bio just aren't a lot to go on for judging compatibility. also in my experience, people tend to have a list of things they definitely don't want in a partner, but don't actually know what they do want. all my successful long-term relationships have been with people I knew for a while before I ever considered dating them. I never considered them an obvious match upon meeting them.
- yomly 7y ago
  They are similar. People who deny this are overly romantic and/or inexperienced. Fundamentally when you encounter a potential partner or employee/r you are trying to answer the question "will we work well together" Then both sides are trying get to simultaneously evaluate the other person (aka "get to know them") while trying to make a good first impression (aka "just be your self" and "act confident") There's nothing shady about this and there's nothing sad or inhumane or unromantic about this either. It's just human nature "oh but there are so many companies where the employee/employer balance is totally skewed" I hear you say? Sure Google will make you run some 6 month long gauntlet. Have you ever tried hitting on the hottest person in a bar when the ratio is already skewed against you? What about if you are John Carmack or Peter Norvig? Do you think they had to invert a binary tree on a whiteboard? Just as there is someone out there who will find you the perfect match for them (but they just haven't found you yet) so too is there the perfect company/team out there for you too. The problem is discovery. Imo tinder was best in a lot of ways simply because by being the one most people used, you had the greatest diversity by virtue of pure numbers So you could find that person who is a liberal but eats meat daily and knits while watching UFC
kazagistar 7y ago
A certain fintech startup wanted to build a side buisness dating app that verifies credit score matches. The idea is still up for grabs if anyone can figure out how ot market it.
M2Ys4U 7y ago
>I’m pretty sure blockchain is not the solution That's true to just about every problem, to be honest

by FabHK 7y ago

fiblye 7y ago

Credible testimony is a big problem. People who’ve moved on won’t want to really talk about it much. Meanwhile those who haven’t moved on will replay every bad moment in their head and do their best to make that other person look like a demon, and some just outright lie because they want to take the other person down. It’s hard to know if that person really was an asshole, or if the person writing the review was the asshole. The only way to know is to accumulate a bunch of separate reviews and maybe try some complicated ML algorithm on the intricacies of the messages/find trends in a person’s reviews (if everyone around them is negative, it’s probably not other people), but...if you start to get to a point where someone has an obvious trend, they’ve probably been through loads of partners, and people looking for dating and not hookups generally don’t want someone who’s churning through new partners constantly. If you have a solution to this problem, divorce attorneys around the world would pay you for it. It’s way more valuable than a dating app.

throw_away 7y ago
If not even one of your exes would be willing to give a positive testimony, that in itself is a fairly powerful signal.
- novok 7y ago
  A lot of people only have a number of exes that they could measure on one hand. It's not like credit reporting or playing fortnight where you can prove 'your references' multiple times a month.
- snerbles 7y ago
  And for those that don't have exes?
  - throw_away 7y ago
    This is a bootstrapping problem that must be overcome, much like with credit reporting or finding a job or renting an apartment, but I still think it's a bit far to say that even most people who have dated before are on poor or non-existent terms with every single one of their exes. This certainly doesn't match my experience.
    - fiblye 7y ago
      There's a very large number who simply cut ties entirely if it's possible. It's pretty much the most common advice given when breaking up. Among the people I've known, people who don't mind interacting with previous partners are anomalies.
    - adrianN 7y ago
      We should just offer unpaid dating internships so that people can build up a relationship rating before entering the market proper /s
      - masonic 7y ago
        A Bootycamp?
- deckard1 7y ago
  I can't imagine a world where exes get a say in my future dating prospects, positive or negative. Jesus christ HN. Not everything is a datapoint to be gamified and exploited.

zamalek 7y ago

Self-disclosure seems like easy low-hanging fruit. I respectfully ended a relationship with a poly individual long before she did anything that I would have considered cheating. It became a question I asked on every first date, and I am now engaged to a mono individual. You might be surprised how many individual would openly admit that they are mono, poly, casual or what-have-you, provided that they are not discriminated for admitting it. I'm incompatible with non-mono sexualities and being open about that spectrum allows me to avoid "cheaters" and them to avoid "clingy." Apps can then strictly filter according to those preferences (some allow disclosure, all have fuzzy filtering at best). I don't think the core idea in the post would work, though. Scarcity would only be present in the app, genders that enjoy a natural abundance of choice would probably open the other apps after swiping left on everyone in this one.

paulddraper 7y ago
All apps already have "self-disclosure." That's the algorithmic match and the human match. I am X looking for Y, etc.
- zamalek 7y ago
  I've never encountered I am "mono" looking for "mono" and I've used many of them.
  - nwienert 7y ago
    Brb calling my monogamous dating app “mono a mono”
    - kubanczyk 7y ago
      It means "monkey to monkey" in spanish, so... good luck, I guess.
  - paulddraper 7y ago
    https://help.okcupid.com/article/59-how-to-use-match-search https://help.okcupid.com/article/59-how-to-use-match-search > Monogamy status And then of course every single dating site lets you write custom descriptions. (Though IMO it's fair to assume monogamy since that is the overwhelming majority. [1]) [1] https://www.npr.org/2019/02/18/695731314/the-new-sexual-revolution-polyamory-on-the-rise-listen https://www.npr.org/2019/02/18/695731314/the-new-sexual-revo...

leetcrew 7y ago

this may be a low emotional intelligence take, but I've often thought that dating and hiring are fairly similar problems. you're almost suggesting that people submit dating resumes and cover letters for consideration. on the one hand it seems strange that we don't use even the weakest signals used by hiring managers when we search for potential matches. on the other hand, this would obviously take a lot of the "humanity" (for lack of a better word) out of the process. for what it's worth, I've never really encountered issues with people outright lying or seriously misrepresenting themselves on dating apps. the people I've met up with were more or less "as advertised". I think the problem is more that a couple pictures and a short bio just aren't a lot to go on for judging compatibility. also in my experience, people tend to have a list of things they definitely don't want in a partner, but don't actually know what they do want. all my successful long-term relationships have been with people I knew for a while before I ever considered dating them. I never considered them an obvious match upon meeting them.

yomly 7y ago
They are similar. People who deny this are overly romantic and/or inexperienced. Fundamentally when you encounter a potential partner or employee/r you are trying to answer the question "will we work well together" Then both sides are trying get to simultaneously evaluate the other person (aka "get to know them") while trying to make a good first impression (aka "just be your self" and "act confident") There's nothing shady about this and there's nothing sad or inhumane or unromantic about this either. It's just human nature "oh but there are so many companies where the employee/employer balance is totally skewed" I hear you say? Sure Google will make you run some 6 month long gauntlet. Have you ever tried hitting on the hottest person in a bar when the ratio is already skewed against you? What about if you are John Carmack or Peter Norvig? Do you think they had to invert a binary tree on a whiteboard? Just as there is someone out there who will find you the perfect match for them (but they just haven't found you yet) so too is there the perfect company/team out there for you too. The problem is discovery. Imo tinder was best in a lot of ways simply because by being the one most people used, you had the greatest diversity by virtue of pure numbers So you could find that person who is a liberal but eats meat daily and knits while watching UFC

kazagistar 7y ago

A certain fintech startup wanted to build a side buisness dating app that verifies credit score matches. The idea is still up for grabs if anyone can figure out how ot market it.

M2Ys4U 7y ago

>I’m pretty sure blockchain is not the solution That's true to just about every problem, to be honest