Having sweated over the origins of the universe and split the atom, academics have finally tackled the question that has perplexed mankind since the dawn of time:
what are the best chat-up lines? A
study from psychologists at the University of Edinburgh tested 205 people for reactions to 40 vignettes of a woman approached by a man using "verbal signals of genetic quality" in different
categories, and found the best rated approaches to be those revealing character qualities, wealth and culture, although the puzzling winning line proved a flop in real life tests. Unsurprisingly, a direct request for sex received a low score. Previous findings by the Japanese proved
equally dubious. But there's still hope, as the code seems to have been cracked
in Dublin, where since last year "there is definitely more pulling". The secret? A smoking ban, a lot of crowded pubs, and
"smirting", an unexpected side effect of the health measure.
posted by funambulist
on Nov 6, 2005 -
103 comments
Doctor of love anthropologist Helen Fisher argues that romance, marriage and divorce follow predictable patterns as old as the species. The evidence is as near as your local bar. Objective observations about Love and what it means when her toes curl.
posted by stbalbach
on Mar 15, 2002 -
8 comments
Interested in taming your man? Upon first review of the advice given, I was guffawing, and thinking man what kind of
milksop would this be effective on. After thinking some more about it, I started to wonder if I would be affected by it. I mean would my Pavlovian response to sex, in effect, allow my wife to train me, and would I mind?
posted by patrickje
on Sep 28, 2001 -
11 comments
Rape Theory Too Much To Take Is it really hard to understand why Randy(!) Thornhill's theories, about rape of women, its origins and what Mr Thornhill derives from all of that, are offensive and sexist? Or is it really about freedom of speech?
posted by piefke3000
on Sep 6, 2000 -
13 comments
