The 50% theory is a concept that was developed about 5 years ago after my friend Sarai on the East Coast and I had a long discussion on the Ladder Theory from Intellectual Whores. The system makes sense, to an extend. Let's look at their breakdown of categories:
Attraction: 40% Things...But Don't: 10% Money/Power: 50%
And for men:
Looks: 60% Chance...Put Out...: 30% Other: 10%
The flaw of this system is that it describes only how someone obtains a ranking on a ladder, and does not account for the motivation to pursue a relationship- the dreaded R word that girls long for and guys fear. Since the ladder theory's purpose was to establish how society rates their own kind, we need then a rule that explains why people get into relationships. This rule is the Fifty Percent Rule.
Let's begin by setting some groundwork based on Ladder Theory: * Every percentage that contributes to 100% is a variable container. This means that for any one category, the percentage listed is the maximum obtainable. Additionally, that maximum may not be met. * The other category will never be a full 10%. No matter how you approach it, the guy or girl is going to have flaws, and that full 10% will never be obtained.
With these in mind, we can then state: With Ladder Theory, a relationship will be attempted if one person's percentage points clears 50%
This explains why men can accept a relationship based on looks alone, and why a female will never accept a relationship based on looks alone. Let's look at Bob and Jane:
Bob's Impression of Jane: Looks: 50% Put out: 10% Other: 0%
Jane's Impression of Bob: Attraction: 30% Money/Power: 10% Other: 0%
This is under the case of Bob and Jane having just met each other. Bob will begin to obsess over the poor woman, while Jane will be thinking sure, he's cute, but.... This 50% threshold then is what will make Bob act like a complete idiot, and Jane hate him forever. If both parties have cleared 50%, then it is safe to assume they will try a relationship. The success of such a relationship of course, is a completely different discussion. The Fifty Percent Rule defines two major points then. The first item is that a guy can accept a relationship based on looks alone (because we all know men are suckers), and the second is that attraction alone will not encourage a female to a relationship. One of my friends put it best when she told me "you could think a guy is the greatest. He could have some money, he could have a sense of humor, all these great things, but if you don't think he's attractive, you'll never have a relationship." This is a perfect example of the rule at work.
So then, what about the Internet? I can say I've had two relationships at a long distance, and they were both (despite their problems during their fireball-armageddon destruction) wonderful experiences. However, we can safely say that attraction for women and looks for men are attributes that occurs only in person, and therefore when you finally do meet someone, the values supplied to the ladder theory alter so greatly and so quickly, that the end result is very unpredictable. Before you actually meet someone, you have a psuedo-value for your Attraction (or Looks) section, which is immediately altered upon spending time with the person. Since Attraction (or Looks) plays such a massive part in the 50% rule, it could then be attributed to the inexplicable and sudden self destruction of a long distance relationship after first meeting.
I'd be interested to see if other people have stories about their experiences with the Fifty Percent Rule, rebuttals, counterpoints, and so on.
Edit: To comply with ladder theory, all references to Looks were altered to the over-seeing category "Attraction" and all references for males were defined as Looks. This complies with the categories defined for Ladder Theory (see Foundations).
In response to "Ladder Theory and the Fifty Percent Rule":
not all guys go off looks. I know I don’t, althrough a lot of my friends do. I don’t think your theory will ever become a law because it’s all on how a person grew up is how they decide on what to look for in a relationship.