Some say it’s science. NewsFeed says it’s creepy.
In an episode of Seinfeld during the sitcom’s later era, Jerry meets a girl (Janeane Garofolo) who acts, talks and looks just like him. They have similar facial features. They both have the same darkish hair color. They even have the same initials.
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“Now I know what I’ve been looking for all these years,” Jerry says. “Myself!”
“Will you stop it man?” yells Kramer. “You’re freaking me out!”
Kramer succinctly summed up NewsFeed’s thoughts on findyourfacemate.com, a site to launch this month on the theory that what we really want from a partner is someone who looks like us.
New York magazine wrote about the site in this week’s issue, describing how it is powered by facial-recognition technology that zeros in on nine points on the face to find similarities. Then, once those matches are made, users can select from those similarly looking candidates who might also share some of their own personal traits.
When you think about it, it sort of makes sense that you would want to date someone who has at least some of your features. But the article also cites a 1989 study in the Journal of Social and Personal Relationships with results suggesting that the “observation of facial resemblance among couples appears to reflect a real phenomenon.”
We’re still a little freaked out, but not enough so that we won’t sign up when the site launches.
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