Diminishing Returns

So, this site has given me better returns over the years than any other investments, including the degrees from IIT and IIM Ahmedabad. Especially, MBA programs exorbitant fee is one of the biggest scams in the Indian education system, second to the Indian ed-tech sector boom. Anyway, sticking to the premise of this site, I started writing about modern-day dating about a decade ago. And the inspiration wasn’t from any of the writers or novels, but from a TV series, Californication. The protagonist is a writer who is quite lucky with women across ages, based on his heartfelt writing. Coming from an engineering backdrop with no artistic talents like singing, dancing, painting, etc., this style of writing was my only chance of redemption, to become one of the cool kids. And I feel my writing has paid off well by far.

I was talking to a girl recently, and we decided to meet. I sent her the link to my post landing page. She replied ‘Let’s book a fancy hotel and chill for the night’. I gladly agreed; the proposition seemed too lucrative to be true when she booked and paid for a room at a five-star in Delhi. And the ironic part is that she isn’t some ‘old money’ cougar or anything. She is the same age as me and slogging it out in the corporate world. She bet big on me based on my writing; I felt a performance pressure building up for the first time.

As soon as I saw her, that pressure vanished up in thin air. In over a decade of dating, I have found the facial features as seductive of just a couple of women. She is one of them; with her sharp facial features, especially her well-crafted nose.

Though, according to Hindu traditions, I am a Manglik, which essentially means I am not marrying someone. And if I do, the other person will die (their words, not mine). But Indians with the highest population in the world, haven’t reached there by blindly following such beliefs. They found a loophole in this. Now if Manglik marries Manglik, then they cancel each other‘ Mangalikness’ and live happily ever after. In essence, it means I can only get married to a Manglik, who are rare to find in the Indian matrimonial pool. As fate will have it, she is a Manglik too.

Anyway, coming to the MBA concept of ‘Diminishing Returns’. Diminishing returns also called the law of diminishing returns or principle of diminishing marginal productivity, economic law stating that if one input in the production of a commodity is increased while all other inputs are held fixed, a point will eventually be reached at which additions of the input yield progressively smaller, or diminishing, increases in output.

In the classic example of the law, a farmer who owns a given acreage of land will find that a certain number of laborers will yield the maximum output per worker. If he should hire more workers, the combination of land and labor would be less efficient because the proportional increase in the overall output would be less than the expansion of the labor force. The output per worker would therefore fall. This rule holds in any process of production unless the technique of production also changes.

Interesting insights can be drawn in the context of modern-day dating from the law of diminishing returns. So as discussed in detail in the dating matrix, the two brain chemicals involved in a romantic interaction are dopamine and oxytocin. Dopamine follows the law of diminishing returns. It will start falling per encounter at one point, in case there isn’t any spontaneity, unpredictability, or use of a completely different technique. Some couples try to spice things up by engaging in roleplays, swapping, etc., while others tend to gravitate towards oxytocin as the primary binder of the relationship as time passes.

The thrill of one-night stands is so high because it is pure play dopamine and in most cases, the dopamine level will fall in case it is more than once, so won’t be worth the investment in terms of oxytocin-based attachment.

That brings me to the Manglik perfectly molded beauty. So, is this it? Are my matrimonial stars finally in place? Is my ‘happily ever after’ finally on the cards? Now the issue is that the shelf life of such interactions for a lot of women is just one meeting, so I won’t be getting another opportunity to prove my critics (internal) wrong. And by the law of diminishing returns, she’ll presume that her dopamine level can’t go higher than that. It is unsaid in such situations, that it is a casual encounter.

She mentioned that it was more ‘fun’ than what she had in years…’ combined’ and would most likely remember it for decades to come. I was relieved to live up to five-star standards in performance. Despite it being so amazing, I was sad as my subconscious had a feeling that she won’t be seeing me again. She is trying to get over the breakup with her ‘soulmate’ and is just looking for a string of one-night stands with new men. Quality doesn’t matter, quantity does. She was with someone else less than twelve hours later. Also, she is moving from Delhi soon. And so I am back to writing as more than any investment for the future, it is my last respite in despair and hopelessness. That is what makes it so real and heartfelt.

Fun Fact: She got married to her soulmate a few months after that night, so my lucky charm worked again!

Later,

Sidhant