Love Triangle

I just arrived in San Jose for the BlogHer conference. First, Husband and I drove to San Francisco to have lunch with two awesome friends of mine from work. (I was sad that a third one already had plans.) They picked a fab mediterranean place. Then we drove down to San Jose, and damn,I am tired from travel. So, in the interest of posting something fun to read, please welcome today's guest blogger, Husband! In this edition, he explains the geometry of love, which he prepared as advice for another friend in June.

I thought you might appreciate a look at the geometry of love to better appreciate how to determine whether a second date is warranted. Follow along with graph paper:

Relationships encompass three connected elements -- physical, mental and
emotional. These three pieces always add to the same sum. Thus relationships
are best expressed mathematically as a triangle, whose three angles total 180
total degrees. The inception of a relationship can start with any combination
of these three, but often it starts scalene, with one predominant angle. Such
an irregular triangle still has 180 degrees, but it might be comprised of a
strong physical attraction (160 degrees) with a hint of interest in a date's
humor or intelligence (15 degrees) and no emotional connection (5 degrees). Or
such a relationship can form with someone you already know, with whom you have
already bonded over a crisis (emotional > 60 degrees) or a colleague with
similar interests and hobbies (mental > 60 degrees).

If you find that someone has a characteristic across one of these variables that
is repulsive then there is a good change that the angle between you two is less
than zero. Such an angle enters a world of non-Euclidean relationship geometry,
and thus your relationship is, mathematically speaking, irrational. However,
provided that each angle is at least greater than zero, the possibility of
romance is rational. Relationships tend to form into something more akin to an
Isosceles Triangle, where two of the angles match each other, with the other
dragging behind or continuing to overwhelm the other two. Over time. a
successful long-term relationship will form an equilateral triangle, wherein all
angles are equal. Such a triangle is best able to withstand pressure from any
side, since it equally distributes the force across its entire structure.

One reasons that such publications as "Cosmopolitan" do not offer relationship
advice based on sound mathematical principles is that the theorems discussed
above are so simple that they negate the need to purchase further peer-reviewed
journals on the science of relationships. Hopefully, you can apply this to your
own life. Please note that the discussion above purely refers to relationships
as considered between two people. Once bisectorality is considered, the math
gets more complicated.

This concludes our first CUSS guest blogger. Thanks to Husband for his guest blogging.