Thank you for the analysis! A few wrinkles you might enjoy: 1) as time goes on, there is an increasing probability that *your* X will be someone else’s ‘one’, which shifts the optimal strategy earlier (perhaps under 0.2N?), exacerbating the leftward drift induced by the probability that your pick rejects you; 2) while you might speed date to get into the hundreds, realistically, you aren’t going to get to know the person for a few months, so the number of real assessments you can make is much lower (the average number of relationships in the US is 7 or 8 in your lifetime). So, the optimal policy might actually be close to your 3rd or 4th relationship. I’m doomed.