Having been in a stable relationship for well over a decade now, I can say that I've never done any math in my head about what it would take to "trade up" to some person who is theoretically "better" than my wife in some nebulous metric. That kind of thinking is foreign to me, and seemingly pretty foreign to most people, too. Unfortunately, a certain post on X has gained a lot of traction from someone who seems to think about their relationships in terms of raw numbers.
in a world of greater legibility, romantic partners would have the conversation about "I'd trade up if I found somebody 10%/25%/125% better than you" in advance, and make sure they have common knowledge of the numbers
— Eliezer Yudkowsky ⏹️ (@ESYudkowsky) February 5, 2024
Her: I am never, ever letting you go unless I find someone 75% better.
— Eliezer Yudkowsky ⏹️ (@ESYudkowsky) February 5, 2024
Me: Works for me.
Yeesh. Even worse, the replies to this thread from @ESYudkowsky just keep coming. If you take nothing else from this situation, please remember never to post through it if the internet is mad at you. Log off, and stay that way for as long as you can.
The internet reacts poorly to that premise
If you or your partner thinks this way then it was never love and just a transactional self interested convenience arrangement
— Sun 乌龟 💖 (@suntzoogway) February 5, 2024
Excuse me sir, your fedora is leaking.
— DaxwellsMemon (@DaxwellsMemon) February 5, 2024
You're such a romantic!
— Casey Handmer, PhD (@CJHandmer) February 5, 2024
You should log off sometimes yud
— 🪖HREAMING🪖 (@hreaming) February 5, 2024
dang I'm on the For You tab again
— darren (@darrenangle) February 6, 2024
In this scenario, I would just let the rogue superintelligence vaporize us all.
— Jon Swifty (@PorygonEnjoyer) February 5, 2024
I can't get over anyone posting such a garbage thing.
— Travis Porco (@mathepi) February 6, 2024
— kaiwan (@gnrtvty) February 6, 2024
“I’d trade up if I found someone 75% better”
— ste.respect (@sterespect) February 5, 2024
“why are you crying it’s a compliment”
damn that’s crazy. check this out https://t.co/iglgpVZlQ4 pic.twitter.com/v4mThfdgLs
— hil (@plume__) February 6, 2024
one of the many problems of contemporary dating is that apps have provided the sense that someone quantifiably better than whoever is before you is always just moments away. this, I think, has been a destructive myth. https://t.co/kW4xwLIMQJ
— Magdalene J. Taylor (@magdajtaylor) February 5, 2024
Followed Eliezer’s advice and had this convo. I said 175%, she said 3%. https://t.co/294QuP9aVv
— Deva Hazarika (@devahaz) February 5, 2024
[Image: Ron Lach, Pexels]
