Online dating has got to be one of the greatest ideas of all time. It fundamentally changes the way the people approach the business of finding a partner. Think about it. When people are selecting a partner, they follow a fairly standard procedure. First they do a brief visual inspection of everyone in their area, and reject all those that don’t meet their standards of appearance. Then they talk to the people that do meet their standards, hoping to find someone that they can connect with on some level. Online dating turns this entire process on its head.

When approaching dating through a bar or similar meat market, people are judged first on appearance, and then on personality. With online dating it is the other way around. It is really impossible to tell what someone looks like based on their online profile. Even if they are using a real picture they are bound to have picked the one that shows them at their best. The information available about people online dating is not visual, but instead related to their hobbies, their thoughts and ideas. What a beautiful way to approach the task of dating, by selecting people first for their dreams and aspirations, for their ideas, and then by their appearance.

I’m not saying that online dating will put an end to physical judgment. People are still going to judge based on physical characteristics. But the environment of online dating gives more weight to compatibility of thought, because it is possible to quickly scan the profiles of other online daters and find those with similar interests and hobbies. This gives those of us who wouldn’t stand a chance in the bar scene a bit more of an advantage. It also gives those of us with more esoteric hobbies and ideas a broader base of potential partners to choose form.

This is not the beginning of a new golden age, but I think online dating will be a little bit kinder to those of us that the traditional bar scene maligns.