TAKING A RATIONALIST APPROACH to dating and marriage.

A couple of thoughts: My experience is that the more you let people talk, the more fascinating they find you.

In my own dating experience, when I was a junior in college, after a breakup in what counted as a long-term relationship then (almost 2 years) I read an article advising men to simply ask out every woman they found attractive as a way of building confidence. It’s much easier when you think of it as practice, and I asked 6 women out over the next few days and got 5 yes answers. I wound up dating one of them for a while, but the lesson learned was that confidence works, and being turned down is no big deal.

And the girl I broke up with? I met Helen through her. So everything turned out well.