# Online Dating Profile, First Draft

Originally published: 2013-08-31
Canonical URL: /2013/Aug/online-dating-profile-first-draft/

25 / M / Straight / Single
Walnut Creek, California

__My self-summary__

It hardly seems _fair_ to ask for a self-summary—how could the rich tapestry of a human mind (with all its hopes, fears, memories, anticipations, and quirks) possibly be summarized in a mere _paragraph_? Or maybe that's a cop-out, a facile rationalization offered not because it has any chance of being believed, but because the real truth is too terrible to face: maybe the _real_ reason one finds oneself reluctant to write a self-summary is _not_ that there's too _much_ to say (and therefore, that to say anything in particular would leave out too much and be a contemptible misrepresentation), but precisely that one fears there is too _little_: if we actually _knew_ how much of our behavior could be predicted by simple programs informed by broad demographic data, a few personality parameters, and a small correction term for subcultural memetic noise, would our self-esteem survive the blow? What does it mean to be human in an inhuman universe, to hold true to one's ideals even after formulating the now-dominant hypothesis that those ideals were just folderol evolved to cover up the unavoidable responsibility of action in a world of crazy talking monkeys?

I don't know the answers. But I want to work to find them out. To face them, together, with you.

__What I'm doing with my life__

_(Written 30 August 2013.)_ This autumn, I shall be attending [App Academy](http://www.appacademy.io)'s web development course, after which I shall seek employment as a programmer.

__I'm really good at__

starry-eyed idealism, reasoning under uncertainty

__The first things people usually notice about me__

My ... hair? My desperate and ineffectual attempts to signal how "smart" and "creative" I am? But probably my hair.

__Favorite books, movies, shows, music and food__

__Text__: collected works of [Greg Egan](http://gregegan.customer.netspace.net.au/BIBLIOGRAPHY/Bibliography.html) and [Eliezer Yudkowsky](http://yudkowsky.net), _Atlas Shrugged_ (it's not what it looks like, I swear)  
 __Television__: _My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic_, _Star Trek_ (_TNG, DS9, VOY_)

__The six things I could never do without__

internet access, mechanical pencils, the knowledge that it's easier to ask forgiveness than it is to get permission, em dashes, the magic of friendship, the global economy, being forgiven for listing seven things when I was only given permission for six

__I spend a lot of time thinking about__

Consider reading [my blog](http://zackmdavis.net/blog/) to get an idea of the sorts of thing I think about.

__On a typical Friday night I am__

doing something wholesome and virtuous

__The most private thing I'm willing to admit__

... pass?

__I'm looking for__

* Girls who like guys
* Ages 19–30
* Near me
* For new friends, long-term dating, short-term dating

__You should message me if__

and only if it turns out that messaging me is the right thing to do