Dude this is such a great post, very helpful for my dating thanks!

The recent popularity of my “fake scientific” contribution on the selection of an appropriate date given each other’s first names, convinced to expose more of my theories on the topic of dating.

Of course, once again, I claim these thoughts have the same rigorous scientific research and validity as gypsy hand reading, “Keep calm” t-shirts, dietology (I know already mentioned in previous article) and triskaidekaphobia.

The selection of an appropriate date based on age is obviously of paramount importance, and – as such – often debated.

I will state my opinion upfront: it is better when the guy is significantly older than the lady.

Now that many are hurt by this clearly politically indifferent (not incorrect!) statement, allow me to build to my thesis.

Firstly, there is potentially an interesting link between which name suits us best to the calculation of the perfect age difference in a couple.

Ben B – one of our readers – accurately commented on the previous post that given a known distribution of names in a certain country, one could name their offsprings with a name whose initial has the largest number of matches.  Further corrected by lower competition I suppose.

For example, if the distribution of names is A=5% B=5% C=5% D=%

but J=10%, K=10%, L=10% , M=10%

then using my name formula is it much better to be called J or M (for a man or woman respectively) than A or D.

However this information alone is not sufficient, we would also need to know the future distribution of names given the perfect age difference in a couple.  And this is where my theory comes in.

First of all, I think men should be older than women in a couple.  I am probably not alone. Of course there are exceptions like Paolo and Cristina, however this is just what it is, an odd exception that – like non-conforming results in pharmaceutical research – I just decide to ignore.

Why is it better than a man is older?  Different stages of sexual readiness is one basic biological criterion.  But the key difference lies in the fact that men are stupider than women, clearly less mature.  So a woman dating a man their age can only be bored and constantly disappointed by the futility of the man’s mind.  Some age difference does not fully compensate for the inherent stupidity of man, but there are other factors (maturity, experience, solidity of financial situation) that can make the relationship more balanced.

And please let’s not get an attack of anxiety in the mentioning of maturity or financial support.  Most ladies love their nest to be secure, and that is clearly related to the sale of Rolex watches, an otherwise utterly useless and ludicrously expensive accessory.  As quoted in a recent brilliant speech by Scott Galloway of NYU Stern, an expensive watch is only a signal that the wearer (even if older) would possibly better take care of the offsprings generated by him than a good looking surfer dude (even if younger).

The preference for older men is also stated by very progressive and leading thinking ladies. As the CMO of this blog pointed out, the witty Stella Grey with the Guardian is of a similar view.  So is my friend Maria.

Having established that it is better if in a couple the man is older, the question becomes: by how much?  And this is where I enter the slippery slope.

In some middle eastern cultures, allegedly there is a formula that clearly states the ideal age gap relationship.

It is: Age of man, divided by 2, plus 7 = Age of woman

Or (obviously): Age of woman, minus 7, multiplied by 2 = age of Man

So for example, man of 22.  22/2=11+7=18!

Man of 52. 52/2=26+7=33!  Lady of 30. 30-7=23*2=46!

This may or may not be a good starting point.  Of course the problem with this formula is that the perfect match continues to change, and this would be an encouragement to a perpetual motion of split ups.

A first adjustments – which I suggest TM – is to apply the formula only to see if it works at the beginning of a relationship.  That might help.

However I wish to integrate it with other suggestions.

Some gaps are generally better than others.

1 year ok

4 years ok-ish but a little bit on the fighting side

The gap you currently have with me is fine, whatever it is but especially between you and me. Wink wink.  (by the way, men readers, this applies well only to me)

Special mention to ladies born in 1964, 1967, 1979!, 1987!, 1988 those are always fine independently from age gap. also 1985 and 1982.  I could explain why but it takes too long.

In summary, I  think the formula works relatively well, give and take 1 year up to a ladies age of 25, 3 years between 25 and 30 and 5 years beyond that.

To clarify, see the table below.

Age of Woman		Age of	Man
	Exception	Min (normal)	Max (normal)
18	19	21 to	25
19	20	23 to	27
20	21 or 24	25 to	29
21	22 or 25	27 to	31
22	23 or 26	29 to	33
23	24 or 27	31 to	35
24	25 or 28	33 to	39
25	26 or 29	35 to	43
26	27 or 30	35 to	47
27	28 or 31	37 to	51
28	29 or 32	39 to	52
29	30 or 33	41 to	54
30	31 or 34	43 to	55
31	32 or 35	43 to	56
32	33 or 36	45 to	57
33	34 or 37	47 to	58
34	35 or 38	49 to	59
35	36 or 39	51 to	61
36	37 or 40	53 to	63
37	38 or 41	55 to	65
38	39 or 42	55 to	67
39	40 or 43	55 to	69
40	41 or 44	55 to	71
41	42 or 45	55 to	73
42	43 or 46	55 to	75
43	44 or 47	55 to	75
44	45 or 48	55 to	75
45	46 or 49	55 to	75
46	47 or 50	55 to	75
47	48 or 51	55 to	75
48	49 or 52	55 to	75
49	50 or 53	55 to	75
50	51 or 54	55 to	80
51	52	55 to	80
52 +	Age plus 1 up to 79	55 to	80

I hope that the fact I inserted such a clear and orderly table proves the solid scientific foundation of the my thesis.