Fortunately, there are more interesting topics I have come across. For instance, very recently a friend of mine mentioned software algorithms that are able to make pictures of faces much more appealing. Just have a look at this:
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| That's a before/after no cosmetic surgeon will be able to produce |
That's pretty amazing, isn't it? You almost wonder how the woman on the left managed to get such a beautiful daughter.
My buddy was joking that should there once be an app that lets people "fix" their pictures, it will be the end of online dating. Frankly, I think given that there usually seem to be x years and 3 times x pounds between a girl's image on an online dating site and her real self, you can easily see where this will be going. At first, some girls will start just making their forehead a bit higher or their face a bit rounder, and before you know it, they'll all do it. Heck, I bet Tyler from Real Social Dynamics would love to get his hands on such an app as well. After all, it works for videos, too.
For the more scientifically inclined, there has been quite a some research on what constitutes a beautiful face. If you've got access to pubmed, you can check out a study called "An objective system for measuring facial attractiveness". Otherwise, surely, this popular science article will do as well. It even contains some PUA jargon. :P
Personally, I would never say the woman on the right is prettier than the one on the left. I also could care less about what other people think about my girl. As long as she's cute enough to my liking, people thinking otherwise can get lost.
ReplyDeleteHaving done some online dating myself, I can relate to the way pictures can be deceiving, though. Though IME a gross exaggeration, this would be a bigger problem for online dating:
http://cavemancircus.com/2009/08/03/girls-on-dating-sites-are-deceiving/
Hey man,
ReplyDeleteof course, if someone takes a liking toward a person, the role of looks becomes less important. But what if you expect to meet the woman on the right, and the one on the left shows up? Also, you could make the theoretical argument that some women may want to make themselves look older, so what if you are looking for a cougar, and then the chick on the right shows up on your date? That's a different issue though, because presumably there is a general standard for beauty, which of course can shift over time.
Thanks for the article you linked to. I have seen some of those pictures before, but put together like this they should be quite sobering for users of Match.com and other sites.