Isn't it romantic?

You've probably heard me extolling the virtues of The Tipping Point, in which Malcolm Gladwell outlines the three types of people who make the world go around. (They're Connectors, Mavens and Salespeople.)

Now, courtesy of an Atlantic Monthly cover story on the science of human attraction as studied by the people who construct online dating services, meet your four new friends:

"So I had these four sheets of paper," Fisher continued. "And I decided to give each a name. Serotonin became the Builder. Dopamine, the Explorer. Testosterone, the Director. And estrogen—I wish I’d called it the Ambassador or Diplomat, but I called it the Negotiator." [An existing personality assessment tool], she says, "clearly knew the four types but didn’t know the chemicals behind them."

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone.


FMFM: Maiden Voyage