Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Stating the Obvious: Study Shows Speed Dating Rarely Works

An article in DiscoveryNews.com confirms what you probably figured out on your own by now.

THE GIST

* Humans and other animals can only handle so much variety before confusion and indecision set in.
* Speed dating usually presents us with an unnatural number of choices, so people often choose the wrong mater or can't choose at all.
* The findings help to explain problems with other situations involving variety, such as long menus.

Prior research indicates non-human animals also make poor choices, or none at all, when confronted with too much variety. For people, the discovery could help to explain all sorts of transaction and social failures, from inability to select a proper home after viewing dozens to what could be called the "George Clooney effect" -- the inability of some people to fully settle down even when dating multiple attractive, wealthy and otherwise desirable partners.

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