> The optimal outcome involves weighing the ongoing costs of search against the benefits of taking the best option currently available.

I recall this "37%"/Secretary rule (had to google the name, _lol_) that you should go through slightly more than a third and _reject everything_, and _then_ pick the best you see thereafter. I can't grasp the logic behind it (@SimpleStacker or whoever needs needs to write *up* the run*down* of this: https://statwizard.substack.com/p/when-you-should-marry-and-settle). 

It's as good as any way to balance accumulating search cost with running out of time. (And, I posit: we also _suck_ at knowing what is/isn't good for us or who we are, so just _doing it_ will both teach you that _and_ become good/good enough over time)

denlillaapan

Note that my advice isn’t to settle down with your high school sweetheart. Rather, it’s to give those relationships enough time to decide if you’re with the right person.

I do think there’s a lot to your b) point. In search theory, the optimal solution isn’t to hold out for the very best thing to stumble across your path. The optimal outcome involves weighing the ongoing costs of search against the benefits of taking the best option currently available (intentional oversimplification).

Basically, if you found someone who you can be happy building a life with, lock that down because you won’t encounter it often.

Politics_And_Law

HealthAndFitness

econ

Here’s the Truth About Fertility (Critic Mag, Stephen Shaw)

Note that my advice isn’t to settle down with your high school sweetheart. Rather, it’s to give those relationships enough time to decide if you’re with the right person. 

I do think there’s a lot to your b) point. In search theory, the optimal solution isn’t to hold out for the very best thing to stumble across your path. The optimal outcome involves weighing the ongoing costs of search against the benefits of taking the best option currently available (intentional oversimplification). 

Basically, if you found someone who you can be happy building a life with, lock that down because you won’t encounter it often.