4 ms·
That article doesn't seem to explain why it is called the Secretary problem. Was it just because someone choose to illustrate it with a hiring a secretary examp
by theginger 4y ago
That article doesn't seem to explain why it is called the Secretary problem.
Was it just because someone choose to illustrate it with a hiring a secretary example, or was there some peculiar reason this is or was the practice when it came to hiring a secretary?
- ape4 4y agoMaybe because secretaries are "rankable" (a term used in the article). Perhaps by words-per-minute typing speed.
- jfengel 4y agoThe answer appears to be "sexism". The problem has a number of names, all of which seem to revolve around men choosing women. The original name is "fiancée problem". (Secretaries were historically male, but by the 1940s when the problem was devised, it had become a largely female profession. It became less about being a trusted adviser, and more about operating a typewriter.) I suppose it makes a vague kind of sense that you don't get to call back a potential "applicant" for marriage. You get to evaluate one at a time, and if you reject them, you don't get a second chance. I don't know why that shifted to "secretary". Maybe it seemed marginally less sexist?
- ChadNauseam 4y agoI've always heard it called the marriage problem or the secretary problem, both of which are gender neutral.
- JKCalhoun 4y agoWhen you review candidates for a position you cannot know if a better one has yet to apply nor (it is assumed) can you go back to a previous candidate (the assumption I suppose is that they now have a job). As the article points out, it is also known as the Marriage Problem for similar reasons. The name "Googol Game" is where I first heard about it (and I believe it was Martin Gardner that presented it as such).