Science of Dating = Science of Self

I just read an article in the New York Times titled Hitting It Off, Thanks to the Algorithms of Love. After all the talk of qualitative methods and psychometric data compilations, it all came down to this: people fare far better using a site that picks matches for them as opposed to sites that allow you to view profiles and pick them yourself. Makes sense. My mother always says ‘be careful what you wish for, you just might get it’ and I’ve learned over and over again that is one of the truest clichés I’ve ever heard. That was easy to understand. The difficult part was the epiphany I came to shortly after wondering aloud why I never have used, nor have any intention of using, those sites. I came to the realization that I might be too afraid to acknowledge who I really am to find love. I mean, what if they match me with someone who’s a real jerk? Or an ecclesiastical conservative Republican? Or a woman?! We all have these idealized (read: Photoshopped) visions of who we are but what if, in having someone find compatible matches for us, we discover we’ve airbrushed ourselves a little too much and not only do we not know what we want, we don’t know who we are? The truth is always difficult to grasp for a myriad of reasons, not the least of which is that it can suck, like really, really, really suck. As in after almost 8 years NOW they wanna come to their senses suck?! And who wants to be depressed? Not I. Therefore I will continue to believe that I’m a heterosexual, liberal, adventurous, logical and kind person who is imaginative, philosophically flexible and a critical thinker.

And tonight’s movie-before-bedtime will be A Scene at the Sea. Again.