The Spark Factor

The curious chemistry of attraction. Is it smell? Taste? Curious to learn what causes the spark factor?

I typically shy away from online polls but after listening to my crush du jour Michael Krasney interview Dr. Helen Fisher on KQED's Forum I made a beeline for her website because I was so intrigued.

A fun online moment. When is the last time you had one of those? Purely rhetorical..please no details. Her new book: "Why him? Why her?" Centers around research concerning the role personality and chemistry play in this intoxicating crazy little thing we all crave. Did I mention the unlikely idea of finger length figures in to all of this. Finger that one out. I know, I know it's wing-nutty but just stay with me for a moment. Let's say you or I for that matter know that we have the ability to shape our social outlet a bit by bending the norms, by knowing how other people view us or even how we view ourselves. Jeez, I really thought a larger piece of my personality was based upon being a red-head. Elementary years of teasing, jokes, and of course freckles
(yes, I like them today.)
What about our hard wired selves vs. environment.
Maybe we like certain things as a complimentary tip of the hat to Darwin.
Quantifiable? You decide....
Scientifically assured nutty professor- but continue with me for a moment.
Dr. Fisher has an online quiz. If you have any curiosity concerning the chemistry of attraction you will enjoy this. Go on goof off for a moment, you have permission. Here's what I wanna know after you imbibe my suggestion- any surprises??

Did the finished quiz tell you something you didn't already know?
Didn't think so.

Dr. Fisher's system is based on anthropological research that would dwarf the Manhattan project (Or for all post generation Xer's, the race to produce a 100GB MP3 player) Anyway, to simplify all of her complicated findings, Fisher boils the whole process down to the X's and O's of romance in layman's terms: The compatibility problems associated with four Fisher-defined personality types: the Explorer, the Builder, the Director, and the Negotiator. To give it some life, the text of "Why Him? Why Her?" is laced with personal and not-so-personal anecdotes and explanations about how different personality types interact or fail to interact in given social situations.

Could be the new iFun applet on my phone or simply the new tarot card.

Care to share your results with the class? Okay Okay, spin the bottle style: If you care to know it's all here, read this and my tea leaves then give me some feedback quid pro quo.