Lover's Dilemma
(Warning: No Science Content)
angry doc should be blogging about how paranoia is causing outbreaks of measles across Europe or the HPV vaccination programme in the Marshall Islands, but instead he and fellow-Clearthought blogger Leng Hiong have a more important question to focus their minds on, namely:
can you accept that statement "I will love you till I die" as "fact" when someone (especially someone as hot babe as Katie Melua) says it to you?
Fortunately, angry doc has never been faced with that situation in real life. But one could always speculate...
In the hypothetical situation where 'hot babe' does pledge to love angry doc till the day she dies, angry doc could of course consider employing the aid of an MRI machine or a lie-detector, but such equipment may not always be available during the moments when that statement is likely to be made.
Even if one could confirm the veracity of the statement with the use of sophisticated equipment, what is there to ensure that the statement will be true each time it is made? Plus, there is always the chance that she cheated the machine by actually thinking about her ex-girlfriend when she said it...
The only thing that angry doc can be reasonably sure of really is whether or not *he* will love 'hot babe' till the day he dies; but that statement - let's face it - may not always be true either.
It seems to angry doc that if he was going to be in a relationship where he was always doubting if 'hot babe' will always love him or if he will always love 'hot babe', knowing very well that one does not always ensure the other, he might not be a very happy man at all.
And to make things more complicated, 'hot babe' may also be harbouring the same doubts about angry doc and herself.
All this seems like a perverse version of the Prisoner's Dilemma: you know the outcome (true love or heart-break and disappointment) will depend on the choices made by each of the two parties, yet you cannot know for sure how the other party will choose - so how will you choose?
angry doc cannot know if 'hot babe' will love him till the day she dies; he can only know if he *wants* to *try* to love 'hot babe' till the day he dies.
So he can either not commit to love 'hot babe', or pretend to commit to love 'hot babe', or commit to *try* to love 'hot babe' till the day he dies.
And he can choose to either live with no commitment from 'hot babe', or to not believe 'hot babe' when she says she will love him till she dies, or he can believe her (or that she will at least *try*).
You can put that in a 3 x 3 matrix, and ask yourself which combination will make you the happiest.
angry doc knows which combination he will choose, because if you're not going to believe that you can give and receive true love that will last till you die, then what's the whole point?
posted by angry doc at
5:00 pm
7 Comments:
"angry doc knows which combination he will choose, because if you're not going to believe that you can give and receive true love that will last till you die, then what's the whole point?"
Ah, a true romantic!
If Katie Melua says she loves me till she dies, I'd be pretty happy.
I don't know if she will really love me till she dies, but she loves me now and that's cool enough.
Must it be true love that will last a lifetime? I guess it depends on your expectations.
Right now I don't have any, and besides, us science-types are locked in an environment of perpetual 3-year contracts and are constantly twacked by Nature, so I wouldn't dare to look too far ahead.
I think that it'll be very lucky if love happens to a disillusioned-student-slash-failing-blogger-penniless-pauper-social-recluse.
Even for just one moment. Or forever... [/movie quote]
By
The Key Question, At
January 10, 2009 10:50 pm
Actually, I think my theory may have some mathematical merit. The only way you can even stand a chance of having a 'true love' situation (each side loves the other till the day of death of one party or the other) is to choose to commit yourself; by not committing or holding yourself back, you already doom yourself to not having 'true love'.
Anyway, you science type should know that 'love' will happen to you when the HLAs all don't match - it's all in the pheromones. Just make sure you keep some nasal decongestants at hand at all times...
By
angry doc, At
January 10, 2009 11:03 pm
Heh perhaps for some, it is time to Reload the Matrix... :p
By
Anonymous, At
January 11, 2009 3:51 pm
this may be of help
http://www.livevideo.com/video/urnow/6BFFA8DE70844B4F874772DD2483A4F6/one-sided-love-relationships-.aspx
By
Anonymous, At
January 11, 2009 8:38 pm
Hmm... LH, your video suddenly reminded me of that old "Pink Ping-Pong Ball" joke that we used to pass around during my secondary school years.
I used to think that it was a non-sequitur (欠扁笑话) kind of joke, but I think I get it now.
If you haven't heard it before, it goes something like this:
**********
Long time ago there was a little girl in a happy family.
One day, while playing on the beach, she built a nice sandcastle.
Her daddy said: "That's a pretty sandcastle, sweetie. It's so nice that I would like to give you a present. What do you like?"
The little girl requested: "A pink ping-pong ball."
"Huh? What pink ping-pong ball? Never mind, I'll give you a kid's tricycle."
"Yay! Thanks Daddy!"
And so she received a colourful tricycle and cycled on it everyday.
Many years later, she was in primary school and she got full marks for her exams.
Once again, Daddy said: "Well done, you have worked so hard and we are so proud of you. We would like to buy you a present. What do you like?"
"A pink ping-pong ball."
"Heh??? What pink ping-pong ball??? Never mind, we'll give you a Walkman."
"Yay! Thanks Daddy!"
And so she received a Walkman and listened to it everyday.
The little girl grew up into a beautiful and accomplished young woman.
One fine day in spring, the young lady was getting ready to be married to a handsome and accomplished young man. A wrinkled Daddy helped her with the preparations.
As he looked into the mirror at her elegant reflection, he said: "You've been such a filial and wonderful daughter. I am so happy to see you get married to this wonderful young man. In fact, this is the happiest day of my life. We have decided to give you a wedding gift. What do you like?"
The young lady considered for a while before saying: "A pink ping-pong ball."
"WTF??!??? What pink ping-pong ball?!!??" Daddy tried to compose himself. "Never mind, we will give you a diamond necklace."
"Yay! Thanks Daddy!"
And so the wedding proceeded perfectly and she received a gloriously exquisite diamond necklace, which she wore everyday.
Many years passed. The young lady had become a successful career woman in the most powerful corporation in the world. She visited her elderly parents to give them the good news - she had been promoted to CEO.
"That's amazing! We are so proud of you that we would like to give you a present. What do you like?"
"A pink ping-pong ball."
"Never mind, we'll give you a private jet."
"Yay! Thanks Daddy!"
And so she received her private jet and flew in it everyday to negotiate billion dollar business deals.
Then one day, Daddy suddenly woke up in the middle of the night with a nagging thought.
Her daughter had achieved many great things in life, but whenever they offered her a reward, she would always ask them for a pink ping-pong ball, and they would always shrug it off and give her something else instead.
He wondered: "Why a pink ping-pong ball???"
So he decided to use his satellite phone to call her daughter, who was flying in her private jet at that time.
*ring ring*
"Hello daughter."
"Hi Daddy! Is everything OK?"
"Yes, I just wanted to ask you why you've always requested a pink ping-pong ball all these years."
"Oh!" *laughs* "The reason is because..."
At that exact moment, bad weather struck her aeroplane and it crashed into the ground. There were no survivors.
The End.
********
By
The Key Question, At
January 12, 2009 10:56 am
Interesting.
We had that story in our time too, except the little girl wnted a green ping-pong ball each time, and she got her green ping-pong ball too.
By
angry doc, At
January 12, 2009 7:57 pm
hey, the pink ping pong ball story made its rounds in my sec sch years too! haha..
By
Teck, At
January 13, 2009 11:30 pm
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