Flowchart To My Heart (and other bits)

*Click for larger image*

I have this tendency to make charts and graphs and rubrics and the like, in an effort to prioritize what’s important to me – including the stuff of love and relationships.  My logic is twofold:  1) How are you supposed to find what you want if you can’t articulate it?  And 2) When entering semi-uncharted territory, scientific analysis is invaluable.

Imagine my excitement when I found out that OkCupid had a "Flowchart To My Heart" application.   Basically you answer a bunch of questions and then it randomly generates a flowchart that someone can look at and immediately decipher if you'd go on a date with them or not.  I thought it was a cute idea, but unfortunately the flowchart has some fatal errors in its presentation.  I found that certain questions needed higher priority than others, and also that for some questions, giving the wrong answer would be an immediate deal breaker in real life.  Furthermore, not all the questions they asked were relevant to a "dating" relationship.  For instance, I probably wouldn't marry someone who was kindof useless around the house or who didn't make smart decisions about their money, but I might still date them.

So I made my own flowchart that looks and reads exactly how it should!  It’s so tempting to make this sort of thing because I’m obsessed with relationships being about compatibility.  I fit your flowchart, you fit mine.

Sometimes though, I think maybe I’m being silly trying to engineer all this and wanting/expecting things to match perfectly.  There’s no magic in that.  Maybe love should be about finding sparks and chasing them.

I guess I’ll figure it all out soon enough.  (maybe)

On a related note, my dad says it's foolish to be so concerned with a potential mate's political inclination - libertarian or otherwise.  But I think someone's political opinions can be indicative of many other things about their personality.  Plus everyone knows that men who subscribe to the Austrian school of economics are better in bed.  It's just true!