The Matching Algorithm

Quinn had filled out the matchmaking app's questionnaire honestly, or so she thought. She'd answered forty-two questions about values, habits, and what she wanted from a relationship. The algorithm was supposed to learn from her answers and get better with every match.

奎因老老实实地填完了交友匹配应用的问卷，至少她自己是这么认为的。她回答了四十二个问题，涉及价值观、生活习惯，以及她想从一段感情中得到什么。这个算法本该从她的回答里学习，并且每匹配一次就更准一点。

Instead, it kept suggesting people who were, on paper, nothing like what she'd described wanting.

结果，它却一直在推荐一些人，这些人在资料上看，和她描述的理想对象毫无相似之处。

"It matched me with someone who lists 'spontaneous road trips' as a hobby," Quinn told her friend over coffee. "I specifically said I value routine and planning ahead."

“它给我匹配了一个把‘说走就走的公路旅行’列成爱好的人，”奎因喝着咖啡对朋友说。“我明明特别说过，我看重规律和提前计划。”

"Maybe it knows something you don't," her friend said, only half joking. "Algorithms notice patterns humans miss sometimes."

“也许它知道一些你不知道的事，”朋友说，只有一半是开玩笑。“算法有时候能注意到人类忽略的规律。”

Quinn dismissed that, but she agreed to one date with Rasa, mostly to prove the app wrong. Rasa arrived fifteen minutes early, having reportedly gotten lost twice and refused to check a map, preferring to "just find it."

奎因不以为然，但她还是答应跟拉莎约会一次，主要是为了证明这个应用错了。拉莎提前十五分钟就到了，据说是迷了两次路，还不肯查地图，宁愿“自己找过来”。

"I should tell you now," Rasa said, sliding into the seat across from her. "I have never once stuck to a plan I made more than a day in advance."

“我最好现在就告诉你，”拉莎在她对面坐下说。“我从来没有一次，把提前超过一天定下的计划坚持到底过。”

"That's almost impressively different from how I operate," Quinn said, though she found herself smiling despite the warning.

“这跟我的做事方式简直不同得令人佩服，”奎因说，不过尽管听到了这样的警告，她还是发现自己在微笑。

Over the next two hours, Quinn realized something uncomfortable. In her questionnaire, she had described the person she thought she should want. Not the one who actually made her laugh until her coffee went cold. Rasa's chaos was, against every expectation, genuinely fun to be around.

在接下来的两个小时里，奎因意识到了一件让人不太自在的事。在问卷里，她描述的是自己觉得应该想要的那种人，而不是那个真正能把她逗笑到咖啡都凉了的人。出乎所有预料，拉莎的随性不羁，跟她在一起真的很有意思。

"The app's description of me was probably more honest than my own answers," Quinn admitted on their third date, weeks later. "I wrote down who I thought sounded stable. You're the opposite of stable, and somehow it's working."

“应用对我的描述，恐怕比我自己的回答还要诚实，”几个星期后的第三次约会上，奎因承认。“我写下的是我觉得听起来很稳重的人。你恰恰是最不稳重的那一种，可不知怎么，就是行得通。”

"Don't tell the algorithm it was right," Rasa said. "I'd hate for it to get smug about it."

“别告诉算法它是对的，”拉莎说。“我可不想让它因此得意起来。”

"Too late," Quinn said, checking her phone. "It's already suggesting we plan a spontaneous trip together. I think it's been listening."

“来不及了，”奎因看着手机说。“它已经在建议我们一起计划一次说走就走的旅行了。我觉得它一直在听着呢。”

"Was it though? Or did it just get lucky?" Rasa asked.

“可真是这样吗？还是它只是走运？”拉莎问。

"Honestly," Quinn said, "I've stopped caring which one it was."

“说实话，”奎因说，“我已经不在乎是哪一种了。”