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Science of Attraction – The Experiments

Tuesday night in Manhattan, I’m sitting beneath a scale-model space shuttle with 100 other strangers and contemplating love. We’ve gathered for The Science of Attraction, a two-hour speed-dating-style event at the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum. The $20 session, presented by a company called Guerrilla Science, promises an evening of hands-on sensory experiments based on neuroscience and psychology to clarify how movement, sight, touch, taste, and smell affect Cupid’s arrow.

The group consists of a diverse range of individuals in their mid-20s to late 30s, some of whom have an interest in science and others of whom are only searching for a unique activity. Each of the about 20 tables has four persons seated at it, half of whom are single people like myself and the other half are couples.

I’m sceptical since I’m from New York, but I’m also really want to understand more about this concept of love. Additionally, it’s okay if I discover love or at the very least a date.

In order to “help individuals think about how all of their senses are engaged in human attraction and behavior, and how much they rely on their eyes when picking a mate rather than employing their other senses,” says Olivia Koski, head of U.S. Operations for Guerrilla Science.

The evening’s emcees are comic Chris Duffy, host of the podcast “You’re the Expert,” in which comedians interview scientists, and astronomer Jana Grcevich, who is on hand because of the venue to connect the event’s theme with space exploration.

Duffy informs the crowd, “I’ve organized this event a few times, and at one of the after-parties there were people hardcore making out on the dance floor in a way I couldn’t believe. “Your brain is engaging in fresh activity that may spark a link,”

I’m seated at table number three with two other ladies, David, an anesthesiologist who, it turns out, lives three blocks away from me, and one other male. If this were to succeed, at least we’d be close by, and I like that.

We discover what seems to be fortune cookie-style messages, a battery-operated candle, a travel-size bottle of Purell, and blindfolds on our round cocktail table that is covered in a purple tablecloth.

Our first task is to share something embarrassing with the person seated next to us after introductions and a summary of the evening. I pick a moment from 20 years ago when I made an introduction to a new set of people while my shirt’s end was poking out through the gap left by a downed zipper. Classy. The woman on my left, Kristen, informs me that her employer recently criticized her during a presentation by claiming that a high school student could have performed the task more skillfully.

This activity aims to establish intimacy and familiarity by sharing a personal detail and to test our attraction to the voice of another person. According to Duffy, women’s voices tend to rise in pitch when they are interested in someone, whereas men’s voices tend to fall. Both sexes speak more slowly.

“Getting the spoon and chocolate into his lips both takes some time. He treats me the same way, and I’m taken aback by how at ease I feel.

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The woman in her 20s, Ann, who is sat across from me, affirms how significant voice quality is to her. She explains, “I’m extremely interested in personality, and voice has a lot to do with it. “I’ve gone on dates where I clicked with the man, but if his voice is too high-pitched or not what I’m after, I start to lose interest in him.” She has an ironically boring voice with a tinge of uptalk at the end.

In the following round, little plates with broken dark chocolate chunks and what seems to be stale granola clumped on a tiny plastic spoon are placed in front of us. While wearing blindfolds, we are instructed to exchange partners and feed them. Everyone looks less than thrilled about this, including myself. Blindfolds have a lot of connotations, and being able to see is one of the few advantages I now have in a room full of strangers.

David is my companion at the moment. I want permission to touch him in order to carry out the instructions. I reach his shoulder with my hand up his arm and press on his jaw. The process of putting the chocolate on the spoon and guiding it into his mouth takes some time. He treats me the same way, and I’m taken aback by how at ease I feel. Because there is a natural physical connection, this seems much hotter than the first assignment. I like the personal interaction with David, who is probably in his early 30s and has extremely soft skin and good muscle definition.

Tryptophan, a component of serotonin, and phenylethylamine, a substance found in amphetamines, are both present in dark chocolate, which is a well-known aphrodisiac. Both molecules have been linked to romantic sentiments. We are all shocked to hear that the spoon had chunks of freeze-dried tomato and carrot, which astronauts frequently consume and which can produce a “carotenoid glow.”

According to Grcevich, “scientists discovered that individuals are drawn to those who are tanned or have skin that is more colorful. Consuming foods like carrots, kale, broccoli, and tomatoes naturally boosts pigmentation.

We are also informed that feeding someone has a biological impact and that touching them causes the release of the euphoria-inducing chemicals oxytocin, serotonin, and dopamine.

Attraction is challenging. Sometimes, there’s no rhyme or reason to it,” David says, adding that he learned about the occasion while browsing the internet. Because of the lasting impressions that early love encounters left on my brain, I keep running across the same kind of women. Even though David is a great person and I just fed him while wearing blinders, attraction is tricky since I’m not experiencing it.

Two of our tablemates go to different groups when a gong is rung, and Allison and Oren, two new players, join us. We are required to perform 20 jumping jacks then, while once again blindfolded, smell the wrist, arm, and armpit of a different individual.

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Allison is a physiologist who doesn’t smell like perspiration but like roasted peanuts. Her buddy had suggested she come, so she did. If I understood the reason we fell in love and what we are drawn to, I definitely wouldn’t be sitting at the singles table, she says when I ask what she believes attraction is comprised of.

Duffy inquires about our past experiences. While most single persons who participated in this activity said they were uncomfortable, couples said they loved it. (They certainly did! They can smell who they are with!) According to Duffy, individuals are drawn to people who smell physiologically different from them, which might boost their offspring’s immune systems.

We discover during the first exercise that falling in love only requires 0.2 seconds of eye contact, giving rise to the phrase “love at first sight.” We are also informed that prolonged eye contact with a stranger, lasting longer than the recommended 3.3 seconds, might make individuals feel uneasy and make the stranger appear to be a stalker. However, a shared look that lasts more than a minute might biologically cause you to experience a strong bond with that individual. This information makes me think of the Modern Love article from a few years ago that encouraged uninterrupted gaze into a potential partner’s eyes for four minutes.

Grcevich informs us about the Overview Effect, which occurs to astronauts when they look down on the Earth, keeping with the evening’s subject of outer space. Most people go through a dramatic shift in awareness and feel incredibly emotionally bonded to the earth and to one another.

Our last assignment is to dance with a stranger. I hold hands with Jennifer, the newest addition to our group, while continuing to wear my blindfold. Love is love, therefore I don’t let it bother me. Gender doesn’t appear to be a concern for anybody, and when I peel up my mask to check how everyone else is responding, I’m relieved to see that. Jennifer and I go back and forth while dancing to disco. Although I too dislike it, I notice that our actions are exactly in time even when there are no words or visual cues present. I have an innate sense of when she will move simultaneously and synchronously from my right to my left and vice versa. A second sneak peek reveals that the couples are dancing closely together, some are kissing, and one man is holding his partner’s bottom in his cupped hands. The singles are somewhat more subdued.

Everyone is invited to an after-party a few streets away following a quick Q&A session in which only a few individuals raise questions. It’s a sweet gesture, but as I scan the room, I come to the conclusion that for me, attraction goes beyond appearance and odor. It consists of a mental element and a complex cause for connection that most likely results from factors from early life or heredity. I choose to forego the gathering.

I give a last round of thanks to everyone for letting me into their evening. I query Koski on tonight’s objective as we bid our goodbyes. She claims that science offers ways to comprehend the world more fully. Tonight was all about learning new things and asking questions. Some individuals come here hoping for love, and while they may not have found it, they nevertheless had a fascinating evening and are now able to share a fascinating tale with others.

All right. I’m interested by human behavior and the reasons behind why we act the way we do, so even though the evening was interesting, I’m eager to get home. At least I can give my Uber driver a fascinating tale.

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