Pairing up might have been the best move our ancestors ever made

  • Blakerboy777@kbin.social
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    1 year ago

    Slightly correcting the math here. 2 people is one relationship (AB). 3 people is 3 relationships (AB, AC, BC). Add another person and it’s 6 relationships (AB, AC, AD, BC, BD, CD). Add a another person (5th) and it’s 10 relationships (AB, AC, AD, AE, BC, BD, BE, CD, CE, DE).

    The formula for a relationship with X people is the Sum of all numbers between 1 and X-1,

    I’m assuming everyone is bisexual because that’s my personal policy in life.

    • DerisionConsulting@kbin.social
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      1 year ago

      That isn’t taking into the next level of complications that I’ve seen in polycules; relationships of more than 2 persons within the group.

      3 persons:
      AB, AC, BC, ABC.

      4 Persons:
      AB, AC, AD, BC, BD, CD, ABC, ABD, ACD, BCD, ABCD

      5 Persons:
      AB, AC, AD, AE, BC, BD, BE, CD, CE, DE, ABC, ABD, ABE, ACD, ACE, ADE, BCD, BCE, CDE, ABCD. ABCE, ABDE, BCDE, ABCDE, I’m probably missing some.

      Then there is the next level after that, relationships between groups within the group:

      How does (AB) and (CD) interact?
      What about (ABC) and (CD) vs (AB) and (CDE)?

      Honestly, it seems like far too much effort/stress.

    • SJ_Zero@lemmy.fbxl.net
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      1 year ago

      Ah, I did a back of the envelope thing to figure it out, you’re right, I made some mistakes

      Assuming some or all are heterosexual or that not everyone is in a sexual relationship with everyone else, you still need to manage those relationships because even being another partner of an intimate partner you need to keep things at a friendly level because strife between non-intimate relationships becomes pressure between intimate ones. It gets complicated.