Speed Dating: Math or Magic?

Inside Wednesday's Single in Saratoga event at City Tavern. PLUS: The much anticipated debut of the Caroline Street Live Cam and more.

Speed dating in action on the third floor of Saratoga City Tavern.

Shortly after I began hosting singles’ events in the fall of 2022, I listened to an episode of the This American Life podcast called “Math or Magic.” The episode explores the beliefs held by two camps: Those who approach finding a partner in a methodical, mathematical way, and those who leave finding love up to fate, or “magic.” Of course, we all want that unexpected, love-at-first-sight meet cute. But some of us get sick of sitting around waiting for it to happen.

I like to think of speed dating as the perfect middle ground between math and magic. While it would be pretty damn magical to be able to say you met your partner at speed dating, ultimately, you show up because you know dating is somewhat of a numbers game—the more singles you meet, the better your chance is of finding that special someone.

So, at Wednesday’s Single in Saratoga speed dating event at Saratoga City Tavern, I wasn’t surprised to find that many of the participants were coming in with that sort of math mentality.