not okcupid

Turns Out We’re Just Guinea Pigs Looking for Love

Photo: Tim Robberts/Getty Images

Earlier today, OKCupid announced — with apparent glee — that the company has been messing with its unsuspecting users, including lying to them about their compatibility score.

A post, entitled “We Experiment On Human Beings!”, hinted that these tests were just part of a pursuit to make a better match-making system. On the way, though, everyone can learn a little more about how we love.

The most outstanding discovery was that people are shallow. OKCupid users only care about photos, equate “personality” with “looks,” and basically use dating sites to gaze at photographic proof of their potential crush’s potential hotness. Shallow as puddles, the bunch of us.

But can a larger conclusion be drawn? Is the whole premise of OKCupid just a grand experiment? Is love our cheese and OKCupid our maze? Are humans just driven by some perplexing impulse that a reward will come to them if they keep pressing buttons and careening about the internet with enough dedication?

Well, OKCupid hasn’t said so, directly, but sure, yes, that seems to be the case.

We’re Just Guinea Pigs Looking for Love