Assortative Mating

Here's the game: there's 14 players. Each person has a sticker with a number on it that's stuck to their forehead . The numbers are between 1 - 30 and everyone is given a different number. All the other players can see what number you are, but you will never know your own number. At the outset of the game, you are told if your number is above or below 20, so you have some idea of what your 'mate value' is.

The object of the game is to partner up with someone that has the highest possible number in order to make the highest possible sum as a couple. That person also has to want to be your mate. At the end, there will be ten couples.

What's funny is that the person with #21 on their forehead will go around thinking they're the shit because they've been told that their value is above 20. So they'll ignore all the people coming up to them with numbers less than 20. Instead, they'll go and approach the people with 30, 25, etc. But of course, the people with 25 and 30 already know that their value is above 20, and having a 21 approach them, they'll know that they have a greater value (or are worth more) than the 21. Thus, #21 gets rejected by all the 20's and by the time they go back to the rest of the group, all the high-teens are paired up and they end up with 8's, 13's maybe.

What is the moral of the story? Don't be a 21.