If You're Alone on Valentine's Day, Try Acting Weird
If you're alone on Valentine's Day, it may be a simple matter of applying a little bit of scientific research.
Indeed, getting lucky is a bit of a mystery. As if being single wasn't hard enough, there's a lot of conflicting dating advice out there. Should you play hard to get or wear your heart on your sleeve? Should you kiss on the first date? Dress up or keep it casual?
Thankfully science can help. Thousands of research hours in laboratories all over the world have been devoted to providing answers to questions just like these.
Here are seven tips from science that just may help you find a date on Valentine's Day. You've heard of evidence-based medicine? This is evidence-based dating.
And here are the tips:
1. Get Hot. A study shows that subjects that experience physical warmth -- in the study's example, by holding a cup of hot tea -- feel more warmly towards others. So if you want to heat things up romantically, go out for coffee. Not for frozen yoghurt.
2. Ladies, Always Shout in His Right Ear. There is, according to research, something called "side bias." At a noisy club, it's better to shout into his right ear -- for some reason men are more compliant when they're given orders in the right ear.
3. Play Bad Pop Music. An obvious one: women who listened to romantic music were more likely to offer up their phone numbers.
4. Ladies, Put a Little Scare Into Your Man. This one is a little weird. Guys who just finished doing something slightly scary -- in the study's case it was crossing a rickety bridge -- tended to be more aroused afterwards. So if you want to make sure you're not alone next year on Valentine's Day, pick a man who's just finished doing something anxiety-inducing.
5. Men, Lie About Your Feelings. This one is so obvious, I'm embarrassed to even write it. According to this study, chicks dig guys who keep it ambiguous. Ladies responded more readily to men who expressed neither interest in them nor lack of interest, but who expressed vagueness and ambiguity instead. But that's not news, is it men?
6. There Are Not Plenty of Fish. In a study of speed-dating results, it was determined that the fewer the people, the better the results. A bigger crowd meant people made choices based on physical criteria -- appearance, etc. -- rather than the criteria that create longer-term relationships, like world view, ethics, religious background, and education.
7. Wear Red. Everyone likes red, apparently. Men think it's sexy on women. Women think it connotes high status on men. Personally, I think red makes me look like I'm in a marching band, but who am I to question science?
So that's the solution. Go out for something hot, in something red, after doing something scary, and if you're a lady make sure you shout into your guy's right ear. And if you're the guy, pretend you don't care.
And let love blossom!
Happy Valentine's Day
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Comments :
Re: If You're Alone on Valentine's Day, Try Acting Weird
Beyond the obvious, let me note that he just flew through the sky with reindeer.
Well, hello, Mr. Risk-taker. May I call you Nick?
May '10
Re: If You're Alone on Valentine's Day, Try Acting Weird
Rob Long:
So that's the solution. Go out for something hot, in something red, after doing something scary...pretend you don't care.
So, like this guy?
May '10
Re: If You're Alone on Valentine's Day, Try Acting Weird
Ha! Ursula, we could not have planned that better.
Re: If You're Alone on Valentine's Day, Try Acting Weird
Aaron Miller: Ha! Ursula, we could not have planned that better. · Feb 14 at 4:55pm
In college, I was a TA for a course called Russian Folklore: Witches, Vampires, and Firebirds. One entire lecture was about the striking parallels between Santa Claus and the devil.
May '10
Re: If You're Alone on Valentine's Day, Try Acting Weird
Interesting. I took a folklore class in college as well, but it was focused on Scottish tales and ballads. Santa never came up. Elves, however, were ubiquitous and morally dubious, to say the least.
While we're on the subject of romance, perhaps someone can explain to me the popularity of The Bachelor show. Since when do American women dream of being part of a harem?
May '10
Re: If You're Alone on Valentine's Day, Try Acting Weird
I wonder if I'm hindered by the fact that my only bits of red attire are t-shirts, an OSU hoodie, and a pair of Pumas.
Yeah - that must be it! To Kohl's, to buy something red from the clearance rack post-haste!
May '10
Re: If You're Alone on Valentine's Day, Try Acting Weird
I've only seen The Bachelor by way of The Soup, but I think the appeal is a queen-of-the-hill thing, where women fantasize about being chosen from a group of their peers by a big lummox with equal amounts of character and personality.
Jun '10
Re: If You're Alone on Valentine's Day, Try Acting Weird
I've found the best place to find love is at the laundromat on a Sunday morning. I can dress in camo, smoke a cigarette, and just generally be me. I >heart< trashy women.
Jan '11
Re: If You're Alone on Valentine's Day, Try Acting Weird
Well, uh, I'm alone on Valentine's Day because I enjoy acting weird.
Remember good old Blaise Pascal - "All men's miseries derive from not being able to sit in a quiet room alone" :-)
Re: If You're Alone on Valentine's Day, Try Acting Weird
Aaron Miller: Interesting. I took a folklore class in college as well, but it was focused on Scottish tales and ballads. Santa never came up. Elves, however, were ubiquitous and morally dubious, to say the least.
While we're on the subject of romance, perhaps someone can explain to me the popularity of The Bachelor show. Since when do American women dream of being part of a harem? · Feb 14 at 5:35pm
Wow, I just now discovered our twin thinking, Aaron! Amazing! And, better yet, I am now intrigued by Diane's lecture class. Oh, this is one of the many times when I would like to go back to college and actually pay really, really close attention.
The appeal of the Bachelor is way, way beyond my understanding. Not to mention the fact that this season's guy seems particularly vapid, fake, and generally a big "zero." It's like watching a gladiator battle lions, or something. Taps into our inner Roman. That's my guess.
Re: If You're Alone on Valentine's Day, Try Acting Weird
Aaron Miller: While we're on the subject of romance, perhaps someone can explain to me the popularity of The Bachelor show. Since when do American women dream of being part of a harem? · Feb 14 at 5:35pm
Fine. I'll fess up. My roommate and I never miss an episode of the Bachelor. We actually started with The Bachelorette last season and found it so entertaining that we continued watching this season.
It's essentially a pageant combined with drama and awkward hilarity. Once in a while you find a character on the show that you really like/seems like a normal human being, and you root for that contestant. But if you think of it as just another form of a game show, maybe you'll understand the appeal.
Jan '11
Re: If You're Alone on Valentine's Day, Try Acting Weird
Aaron, Diane and Ursula - I accidentally stumbled across the Bachelor once whilst channel surfing - I watched about ten minutes, and then had an overwhelming urge to autoclave my brain. Cheers!
Aug '10
Re: If You're Alone on Valentine's Day, Try Acting Weird
http://failblog.org/epic-fail-photos-the-many-stages-of-valentines-day-fails/
Oct '10
Re: If You're Alone on Valentine's Day, Try Acting Weird
A TV set has a brightness control on it... Ever notice, it does not work...Hmmmm.
Try reading the unabridged version of Grimms Tales and some original Russian Fairy tales for starters... Great bedtime reading. Then do cultural comparisons.
By the way, if you have not figured out Valentines Day by now, get a lobotomy guy.
People will bring you flowers and cards, then eat the flowers...