Misadventures in Atlanta Blog is on the Move!
Attention Readers! We have moved! The Misadventures in Atlanta Blog can be found here. The new technology will improve our blog and commenting experience. Update your bookmarks and RSS feeds!
AJC.com > Living > Blog > Archives > 2007 > February > 09
Friday, February 9, 2007
She blinded me with science
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Wassup, everybody? My name is…well, I can’t tell you that except to say that I work with Laney at the AJC and I haven’t figured out what my official, super-duper-secret online identity is going to be yet. For now, just call me “Dr. L.”
Why the hokey medical title? I think it’s only fitting because I’m working on a theory and doubt anyone would take me very seriously if my alias included the letters “G.E.D.” Anyway, I’m thankful that Laney has graciously given me the chance to take over her blog for a day so my ideas can be properly peer-reviewed by her fellow Misadventurers.
My theory is simple enough, to wit: We’d all have a better chance of being successful at love if we stopped acting as if it’s some indecipherable mystery of the heart. Instead, we should start treating love like it was a science. Science!
That’s right, all the anxiety, anticipation, exhilaration, heartbreak and other emotional experiences we normally associate with romantic relationships are mostly the result of the subtle interplay between biology, chemistry and anatomy.
For example, if you think you’re eyeing some hottie across the bar merely because he has a killer smile and dimples to die for, guess again. The more rational explanation is that you’re reacting to the innate desire to seek out facial symmetry which has been hard-wired in our genetic code.
And what is it, exactly, that drives you crazy every time that Coke-bottle shaped co-worker strolls past your desk on the way to the copying machine? The easy explanation is that you’re just a typical “man whore.” But the geeks down in the science lab also know that you’re inexorably drawn to a specific waist-to-hip ratio that signals a woman’s, um, fecundity. (You can look it up.)
OK, OK. I admit the stuff I’m talking about here isn’t the result of me spending hours poring over test tubes, Bunsen burners and petri dishes filled with icky microbes. But while this information has been around for decades, I’m still amazed that most of us continue to blindly “follow our hearts” into relationships that are often doomed from the start without ever understanding the role that science plays in our subconscious decisions.
On Sunday, at 1:30 p.m. I’ll be participating in a Sunday Brunch on love, romance and marriage hosted by WAOK-AM radio show host Shelley Wynter where I’ll be discussing this issue in further detail.(For more information, visit www.sundaybrunchexchange.com.)
Please drop by if you can. In the meantime, I’m wondering if you believe, like I do, that science is the key to successful relationships? Is it God? Or maybe, since it’s almost Valentine’s Day, are you convinced it’s all up to some half-naked weirdo with a bow and arrow?
Permalink | Comments (119) | Categories: Dating
