12 February 2010

Formula: For your perfect marriage proposal age


Australia statisticians have created a formula that predicts the best time to propose to your partner.

The equation, developed by a team of researchers at the University of New South Wales's School of Mathematics and Statistics, employs the age at which the user starts looking for a long-term partner and the absolute oldest they want to be when they get married.

They believe each person's unique scent helps attract a partner who'll produce genetically stronger children.

Prof Rob Brooks, director of evolution and ecology at the University of NSW, studied subjects who sniffed the armpits of T-shirts worn by the opposite sex for several days.

Results showed people were usually attracted to the smell of someone with significantly different genes to their own.

Love by numbers

1. Choose the oldest age by which you want to get married, for example, 39. Call this 'n'.

2. Decide the earliest age at which you'll start to consider a potential spouse, for example, 20. This age becomes 'p'.

3. Subtract 'p' from 'n' (39 - 20), then multiply the result by 0.368. This equals 6.992.

4. Add this to your minimum age.

Result: 27 is your optimal proposal age.

Read the full article here

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