They can match me on paper with others all day, but what about chemistry? No way.
I would, out of curiosity, go on a date with a woman a group of professionals thought was my perfect match. But I wont be marrying anyone at “first sight”. No thanks.
Substituting “computer algorithm designed and refined by (presumed) professionals” for “actual group of professionals poring over the particulars of my personality profile,” this is what a lot of dating sites already do.
It worked for me: my now-wife was one of OKCupid’s two or three most compatible people for me within my search radius. 
I might. I’ve got the Love of my Life, and it’s pretty awesome, but I don’t think it’s the only way or even best way to create a household. We’re both total crap with money, for one thing. It makes for some instability and anxiety at least once a month. The love angle makes it worth it, but if he were to predecease me (and he probably will), I would be open to creating a household with someone better suited to strengths where I have weaknesses, and vice versa. I have thus far been 0 for 3 in that area, so chances are actually pretty good that someone else might be more successful.
I’m reminded of when Peapod grocery delivery service began, and I was all, “Hell, no! How can I trust someone to pick out my produce for me?!” When I actually tried it, I realized that, oddly enough, a professional produce picker actually picked *better *produce than I do. I could order an avocado to be ripe in 2 days, and by gum, it actually was! I could pick my own avocado for 2 days hence and most of the time it was either still not ripe or mushy and black. Go figure. Someone who does nothing but pick avocados is actually better at it than an amateur.
Clearly, it depends on your goal. If your goal is to marry someone you love, the arranged approach is not your best choice. If your goal is to create a functional, stable, thriving household, it might not be a bad idea. If your goal is happiness and to love your spouse 15 years after the marriage, arranged matches and love matches seem to have about equal outcomes.
Assuming I were single again: no, hell no, and fuck, no.
First, being of a particular religious bent, I believe marriage is a sacrament, and I believe that my wife and I were called to be together. I don’t think I can outsource to a panel of experts an awareness of being called.
Second, putting that aside, there’s still more you need in a marriage than a matching of compatibilities, and making sure that the weaknesses of one partner are balanced out by strengths of the other partner in that same area. You need shared or compatible goals, values, and worldview.
I’d trust honest answers to a questionnaire about such things to be a good starting point for figuring out whether a relationship has these attributes, but only a starting point. You really need a bit of time to make sure that if there were any problems here, you’d have tripped over them by now. I’m not outsourcing this to experts, either. I have to determine this for myself.
I might, as long as it was a civil marriage and not a religious one. If, after 6 months or a year, I decided to stay married, I’d want a Catholic wedding. But the sacrament is too solemn and permanent to blow my chance on someone I didn’t know. But I think arranged marriages have a good chance at being successful. If a person doesn’t drive you insane with their annoying little habits, I can see growing to love them.
StG
You know, with all of the people in American fighting to have the right to get married, having a televised competition where you just “get married and see if it sticks and if not, eh, it’s reverseable” is pretty fucking crass.
As to whether or not I’d do it…no. But I would go in for a sight-unseen match where we lived together for 5 weeks then got to have some sort of prize if we got married after. I’ve got nothing else going on, and who doesn’t like a big prize?
no, but people have some interesting points. I don’t think arranged marriages in general are a bad thing as long as it remains an option.
Whynot, I did not know about this Peapod thing - I am terrible at picking produce so I’m interested! but I guess you need to live in a big city. :dubious:
As a fifty plus spinster, I’m willing to give it a shot. I haven’t had much luck finding someone on my own or with online dating, so if a match-maker thinks they can come up with a compatible mate for me (good luck!), I’ll go for it. (I’m not crazy or hideous or anything, just can’t seem to find that chemistry with anyone I’ve met)
That’s not a quantifiable thing to be an expert at, so leaving my future in their hands doesn’t appeal to me.
But who doesn’t love a good train wreck? You’ve given me another item in the “pro” column re: getting cable again. Yay creepy voyeurism! (That may seem like I’m judging. I’m not. I watch some of the shows just to see who would sign up for whatever they offer.I feel dirty and ashamed when I do it, but I still do it.)
How big is the reality TV barrel that we haven’t gotten to the bottom yet?
I haven’t seen the show, but there are a couple things I noticed about your description.
It sounds like the experts had a large pool of applicants, both men and women, to choose from. They could find the three couples that they thought had the best chances of working out. That’s very different from presenting them with (in my case) one guy that they have to match. I’d be curious what sort of woman they’d match me with, but not enough to agree to marriage in advance.
And it’s a bit of a gimmick that they had to get married, but with the option to break up five weeks later. Why not just have them live together, or just date, for those five weeks with the option to get married at the end?
They make genetic tests for that…(MHC complex profiles)
Look, the current science of it is in it’s infancy. But this is a science. You have quantifiable success rates (how long a given pairing stays married/has kids/reports being happy), objectively measurable information to make decisions from (height/weight/BMI/symmetry/certain alleles connected to risk taking) and so on.
Sure, the current state of the art lacks the knowledge and advanced tools to make this a truly accurate method of pairing. You would need to probably put electrodes inside people’s brains to really determine objectively personality traits likely to affect the success of a given pairing.
On the other hand, think about how the currrent method works. You kind of just randomly meet people til you find someone “good enough” to keep sleeping with them and hormones do the rest. Frankly, even inexpert experts could probably do better than that.
No, wouldn’t do it.
No, wouldn’t watch the show
No, don’t think has any basis in sanity
And, what RTFirefly said.
Where I come from, and even for some of our kings, the arrangement of marriages took the form of “potential mates are introduced to each other and get to decide”, not “you are getting married.” Matchmaking, not shoving spouses down throats.
And, I do view marriage as a sacrament. Civil marriage is a contract, but one I would not want to enter unless I was married “for real”, that is, unless I felt completely commited to my spouse. So,
I find this show to be fascinating. The reason is that there have been numerous accusations lately of practices that are destroying “marriage” As an example, two people of the same gender marrying are supposed to be a threat to the institution of marriage.
And yet, I haven’t heard any outcries to this show…somehow, the idea of marrying for a reality show with the knowledge that you can get out of the marriage in a few weeks if you don’'t like it seems to devalue marriage more that single sex marriage.
BTW, I’m a straight man who has been with the same woman for 54 years - 4 years dating and 50 years married.
If it is Michelle Jenneke, you betcha. In a second.