I'm probably alone in this, but one of the first things that got me hooked into this godforsaken madhouse (in a good way) of a website was the semi-scientific looking "Matching" percentages. As a matter of fact, it was second only to the quizzes, which for some reason I find ridiculously compelling and enjoyable (but that's a story for anther time).

It happened like this: Coming home one day from work I find my room-mate browsing around the site and ogling pretty girls (give the guy a break- he's a professional ogler), when he is distracted by one of those quirky little personality quizzes that litter the place like drunk idiots at a keg party (you know you probably shouldn't mess with them, but it's so hard to resist). Of course I am immediately fascinated, so I create a profile for myself, for the sole purpose of browsing and taking an absolutely mind-numbing amount of tests designed to tell me (and other people) about me. Of course I've always found that to be more than a bit impossible, as I am a seething mass of contradictions at the best of times, but it doesn't change the fact that it gives me an odd kind of satisfaction. Regardless, over time I come to notice the little percentage match thing next to photos of people, and I am immediately intrigued, because anything vaguely science-y is to me what cocaine is to Charlie Sheen. 

Of course this means I must explore more.

Lo and behold, there's a whole world of (sorta-kinda) scientific data lurking beneath the unassuming surface of what I had initially dismissed as  just a groovy place to waste a few hours online; Naturally, this combined with pictures of all the pretty people turns OKC into a regular destination for me. It's like an online version of a coffee shop exclusively for data geeks, except some of them have breasts, which is always a bonus in my book. So I keep coming back, over and over, until it's gotten to the point that I have taken nearly every test there is, and I even go so far as to post a couple of pictures of myself and write a snarky smartass profile, which, believe it or not, is really out of character for me (writing the profile, not the profile itself). The reasons for this are several, but they essentially boil down to a few things: My personality doesn't translate particularly well in short spurts of text, I meet enough people IRL that it's really almost pointless to add a website to the mix, and last (but definitely not least) I am about as photogenic as the southbound end of a northbound mule; I'm not a bad looking man in person, but almost every photograph ever taken of me makes me look like I'm mildly constipated and also possibly deformed in some subtle way.

But the science-ish data has me hooked, so I do it anyway. 

And over time, I notice something that surprises me: In almost every case, the more attractive I think someone is (from the impression their profile gives to looks to what have you) the less our match percentage is. It's almost universal, in fact. Of course this gives me pause, and I do have to consider the question of whether this is something that applies in the real world as well; Am I unconsciously attracted to completely incompatible people? But I find that my history doesn't bear that out. Sure, there are the few "what the hell was I thinking" relationships, but for the most part, I tend to seek out people that are similar enough to be compatible, but different enough to bring something to the relationship, not complete screaming opposites (though I did go through a phase of dating religious girls. It was a long time ago, and probably had something to do with the uniforms).

So why is it that the match percentages don't add up?

I'm not sure, but I have a theory, in two parts: One is that the way match questions are worded doesn't allow for nuance or subtlety. Thankfully, they allow you to explain, which does a lot to remedy that issue. The other reason is that people seem to much more inflexible online than they are in face-to-face situations. It's kind of an extension of the online effect in general, where being distant and lacking the body language cues seems to erode people's tolerance in general, and specifically their tolerance of different opinions and lifestyles. For instance, in real life, you might not rule someone out for facial hair, or being a few years to either side of an age range, or minor political differences as long as there was enough attraction and commonality to make up for it in other ways. Online however, it's much more likely that somewhere in there will be a line like "And if you have a beard, mustache or follicles of any kind visible on your face don't even Talk to me. All men with facial hair are scum and should immolate themselves immediately for the good of humanity!" 

(Not to pick on the facial hair thing, and sorry to those I might have offended who really really really hate facial hair. It was just an easy target, and frankly, if you got offended by that, you might want to invest in a helmet. Life's tough, you know).

Now of course this is all anecdotal evidence, which as any rational person is aware is not evidence at all, but still- I think I may just be on to something here. That, or there might be some correlation between how picky people are and their inability to find a suitable mate in the wild. (I doubt it- most of the folks on here don't seem particularly desperate and probably aren't nearly so judgmental as the format might make it seem, but I did have to throw the possibility out there). So though no conclusions have been reached, I at least have something to ponder. 

And maybe now so do you. What do you think?