Time to Kiss a Frog
When You’re Desperate, It’s Time to Get Picky
True Cads
The Relationships Pillars - The Status
The Relationships Pillars - Wealth
The Relationships Pillars - Looks
All Rejections Are Not Created Equal

Yes, it's a very fine line, and it's complicated because normally compromise is something we consider a positive. The ability to compromise, for example, is probably an important character trait to seek in a mate.

I don't believe any of us winds up with an IDEAL partner, even if we think we have in the early stages. We will always be compromising in some way if the person we fall for isn't perfect, right? But each of us has those characteristics or traits in mind that we know are essential for us personally. Whether it's intelligence, a sense of humor, or being treated in a certain way. Those are our non-negotiable requirements, our standards. And that's where I believe we should not compromise – those are the dealbreakers. If they are not met, we walk away.

9hambydammit September 3, 2009 at 11:07 am
Ooooh… I love topics like this because they're literally a direct translation of the math behind Game Theory, which is the math behind natural selection.

Here are some more things to throw into the already convoluted mix of variables:

* Men tend to become *more* valuable as they age. True, men lose some physical attractiveness, stamina, etc, as they age, but they tend to gain social standing, money, security, temperance, knowledge, and so forth. Young men rent houses. Older men own them.

* Like it or not, women become less valuable as they age. Across all cultures, men of all ages prefer women younger than themselves. As women age, the number of available men older than them steadily decreases. Women's reproductive fitness is highest when they're young. Men are not particularly interested in finding a highly successful, rich woman with very high social status. It's a nice bonus, but they'll take young and pretty with a nice personality and be perfectly happy most of the time.