By the Numbers

i heard about an excellent discussion that was held in a math class today. technically, it was a private conversation, but who's counting?

anyway, the issue up for discussion was this: is it okay for a 16 yr old girl to date a 27 yr old guy?

knee-jerk answer says: EW.

but it's math class, so it should have a mathematical answer. fortunately for everyone who doesn't want to look like a skeevy perv, there is a simple equation people use to determine the Socially Acceptable Dating Age Range:

y = 0.5x + 7,

where x is Your Age and y is The Other Person's Age. this equation determines the lower bound (the youngest) that you can date and still be considered socially acceptable. conversely, the upper bound can be found by inverting the function:

y = 2(x - 7).

for those of you with low Mathema-logical aptitude, here is a lovely graph i whipped up for you:

therefore, it is pretty sketchy for Peter Petrelli to be dating Claire Bennett, and extremely sketchy for a 16 yr old girl to be dating a 27 yr old guy.