Then, I guess there's not much hope for you.

If you place TOO much importance on the internet, you're in deep dodo. The internet is but another tool to be used for living in the REAL world. It is full of scammers and charlatans and people who would hide their true character. The only solution is to get a LIFE.

I think you're trying to make it a lot more complicated than it is. How can you call it a evolutionary holdover. People know what they like and what they don't like. When they see, hear, taste, feel, smell something/somebody for the FIRST time, the experience makes an IMPRESSION on them. They like it, they don't like it, or something in between those two points. Real simple.

First impressions are an evolutionary hold over from the time when people needed to make fast life or death decisions about new situations. The mind still tries to find a match amongst past experiences and in the interest of playing it safe is more likely to give negatives more weight. The people whose minds didn't work that way but rather appreciated the soft, silky, fur on the lion were the ones who got eaten.

Really hard to admit that you are wrong, isn't it? No, that is not the sumation of my argument, only part of it. Really hard to refute the rest of that post, isn't it?

Why did you choose only the last sentence to make a reply on? Really hard to argue with the rest of that post, isn't it?

Physical attraction and the prospects of being a good child bearer, or provider(money), play in to the mate selection process of most higher species, including humans. It is hard wired in the brain, and has a lot to do with survival of the fitest. Humans often override their hardwiring, and hence you may get mate selection based on inner beauty or emotional "connection", but that is the exception, rather than the rule. First impressions play a very important part in that mate selection process, even if you do not realize it. How often do you see a beautiful woman with an ugly mate, or vice versa. I rest my case.

The post to which you are referring did not get off topic. In the first place, you ladies did not even answer the question. You did not pick 1 or 2. You changed the topic when you threw in the little tidbits, money or looks don't even play in to it. There lies my disagreement. First impressions are very important. Sure, on the internet, you may learn more of someone's inner self before you see them or learn anything else about them. But, in the real world, I pose the question again, "How many people have you never spoken the first word to, simply because you did not like the first impression you received from them?" You never got the chance to see their inner beauty or make the "connection". Just don't expect me to believe that money or looks doesn't even play in to the picture.

smakdat,

I think this is spot on with one caveat. O/one can blow a good first impression easily but it's extremely hard to recover from a bad one. I always advise people to be themselves when communicating on line. Y/your true colors will shine through eventually so eliminate the up-front nonsense.

Thanks as always for sharing.

Issib