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Trekkie Dating, is it Good for the Gene Pool?

Eloketh writes "It seems that Tucker Carlson of MSNBC thinks that Internet Dating services are a somewhat disturbing trend. Specifically, when talking about Trekkies, he says 'Is this good for the gene pool?' He also goes on to question whether allowing Trekkies to meet and mate is 'in the national interest.'"

120 comments

  1. Fortunately... by RoffleTheWaffle · · Score: 4, Funny

    ... pairs of males can't procreate. No, the Star Trek universe does not afford a real work-around for this problem, and procreation and replication via androids just isn't feasible.

    1. Re:Fortunately... by pallmall1 · · Score: 1
      No, the Star Trek universe does not afford a real work-around for this problem, and procreation and replication via androids just isn't feasible.
      Just get a fucking bow tie from that android Tucker Carlson. :)
      --
      3 things about computers: they're alive, they're self-aware, and they hate your guts.
    2. Re:Fortunately... by 91degrees · · Score: 5, Funny

      Indeed. I have a Star Trek mystery dinner party game. Requires 4 men and 4 women. Where are you going to get 4 female trekkies? Are there 4 female trekkies?

    3. Re:Fortunately... by tverbeek · · Score: 4, Informative
      Where are you going to get 4 female trekkies? Are there 4 female trekkies?

      You're kidding, right? Trek fandom has always been notable for attracting a significant number of women (especially compared to SF fandom in general or other realms of geekdom). Historically, women have been drawn to Trek by romantically appealing captains, by the ideals of gender equality the shows represented (Uhura may not have done much, but she was a bridge officer), and the community opportunities of fandom itself. The whole genre of "slash" fanfic was invented by female trekkies fantasizing about a Kirk/Spock relationship. Fanfic is also rife with uber-competent "Lt. Mary Sue" characters who win the heart of Kirk or Spock or another character, also obviously written by women. In the TNG era, the DSPSGs (drooling, slobbering, Patrick Stewart groupies) were rampant on CompuServe (and mostly female). To cite a mass-media example, there's the woman who made the news for wearing her Starfleet uniform for jury duty. Whoopi Goldberg finagled herself a part on TNG because she was a fan. I haven't been involved in Trek fandom for a while, so maybe the women have been abandoning it for other more interesting subjects (leaving only the men who refuse to ask for directions), but the notion that female trekkies are some kind of mythical creature is simply incorrect.

      --
      http://alternatives.rzero.com/
    4. Re:Fortunately... by 91degrees · · Score: 1

      Yeah. I'm not totally serious. However, serious fandom distorts the figures a little. When I was at University, the girls I knew were either really into Trek, and went to conventions, or they hated it and wouldn't watch it at all. I've met very few girls who just watch the show.

      And I realise I'm playing stereotypes. Our science fiction society was offered free tickets to a Star Trek convention by a TV station. They seemed to lose interest when they found out that the only people who wanted to go were girls.

    5. Re:Fortunately... by danpsmith · · Score: 1
      Whoopi Goldberg finagled herself a part on TNG because she was a fan.

      Sweet, you hear that guys, Whoopi Goldberg is a fan...let the wine flow in celebration!

      I for one am very aroused!

      From the simpsons:

      Man walks up to endless pit with a box containing photos.

      Man: What was I crazy? Who would ever want naked pictures of Whoopi Goldberg.

      Man drops box in hole.

      Hole pushes box back out to man.

      --
      Judges and senates have been bought for gold; Esteem and love were never to be sold.
    6. Re:Fortunately... by Syberghost · · Score: 2, Funny

      That's OK, because the women that DO come to Trek conventions are mostly, oh how to say this politely:

      Willing.

    7. Re:Fortunately... by Kelson · · Score: 1

      Then you get into other sci-fi fandoms, like Farscape, where the women seem to outnumber the men.

    8. Re:Fortunately... by niXcamiC · · Score: 1

      You realize that / can signify or, but it also can mean and? So that could be read as a Kirk AND Spock relationship. Scary.

      --
      Chances are any disscution on Slashdot will degrade into a flamewar about ID/Christianity within 14 posts.
    9. Re:Fortunately... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      You realize that / can signify or, but it also can mean and? So that could be read as a Kirk AND Spock relationship. Scary.

      Um, that's exactly what "slash" fanfic is. A "Kirk/Spock" story describes a sexual or romantic relationship between them. (A standard plot device is that Spock goes into his 7-year heat and there ain't no females around, just his friend Jim.) And if you find that thought "scary", I suggest you stay in your parents' basement where it's safe. {smile}

    10. Re:Fortunately... by 91degrees · · Score: 1

      You want to see scary?

      Google "Kirk/Spock fanfic"

  2. requires IE6 for the 'free' video? by daemious · · Score: 3, Funny

    I really wanted to see Tucker Carlson making an ass out of himself too.

    1. Re:requires IE6 for the 'free' video? by magicchex · · Score: 5, Funny

      Then turn on Fox anytime he happens to be on.

      --
      How many fulltime jobs can one man have?
    2. Re:requires IE6 for the 'free' video? by MassOutput · · Score: 1

      Hello. MSNBC?

      --
      Somewhere in all of the brain farts, lies a rosy bouquet.
  3. Perhaps by grindcorefan · · Score: 2, Funny

    ..one should have a look at the Darwin Award statistics. How many Darwin Awards have been given to Trekkies, how many have been given to non-Trekkies? I'm afraid this will come out in favour of the Trekkies. However, that doesn't necessarily say anything. Trekkies are just as useless as non-Trekkies, perhaps just wee bit more able to survive.

    1. Re:Perhaps by bisscuitt · · Score: 2, Funny

      That's easy for you to say!? You weren't given a red uniform !!

      eek!

    2. Re:Perhaps by grindcorefan · · Score: 1

      Oh, but these red uniforms look soooo sexy. Obtaining a willing partner for procreation should be a no-brainers with these ;-)

  4. If all of the Gamma quadrant couldn't defeat us... by Sting_TVT · · Score: 1

    This article is pretty weak all the way around. Trekkies looking for a wormhole to asexuals looking for a couch mate. All in all, the title is much more interesting than the actual story, much like anything Uwe Boll has directed.

  5. people actually listen to tucker carlson? by the+unbeliever · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I figured that after Jon Stewart emasculated him on Crossfire people would have written the bow tie wearing blowhard off for what he is -- a moron.

    1. Re:people actually listen to tucker carlson? by zoloto · · Score: 2, Funny

      I don't recall that. Do you have a website / video for reference (today's not my day for google, search results don't turn up much)

      wait... here it is.
      click for links to movies/transcripts

      this is great!

    2. Re:people actually listen to tucker carlson? by SeaFox · · Score: 4, Funny

      I don't understand why he isn't in favor of geeks getting together. More couples and new familes means more taxpayers to try to prop up broken Social Security systems and more young'ns to send into meaningless wars.

      But then maybe he doesn't want them for the intelligence reasons. It's far easier to control a populace made up of idiots.

    3. Re:people actually listen to tucker carlson? by the+unbeliever · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I think he realizes that once we establish our political dominance (by actually, y'know, voting...) that the outdated and broken social security systems (and many other social programs...) are going to get a major reform, along with stamping out what I like to call "legislated morality".

      The major problem I see facing that is that a) many geeks I know don't vote, for reasons I can't explain, and b) many of those same geeks are (like myself) decidedly childfree.

    4. Re:people actually listen to tucker carlson? by the+unbeliever · · Score: 1

      I won't be your monkey!

    5. Re:people actually listen to tucker carlson? by zoloto · · Score: 1

      that was the best comment of the program. - so nice

    6. Re:people actually listen to tucker carlson? by heinousjay · · Score: 1

      You are aware that there aren't enough so-called 'geeks' to assert dominance in general society, and that in any case, so-called 'geeks' aren't a block of political thought in any case. Your dream is dead on the birthing table, my friend.

      --
      Slashdot - where whining about luck is the new way to make the world you want.
    7. Re:people actually listen to tucker carlson? by Verteiron · · Score: 1

      Even if most geeks had kids, there's still c) Catholics breed faster.

      --
      End of lesson. You may press the button.
    8. Re:people actually listen to tucker carlson? by miniver · · Score: 1

      Uh ... Catholics can be geeks, too, you know.

      (Not that *I* am, but I have geek friends who are Catholic.)

      --
      We call it art because we have names for the things we understand.
    9. Re:people actually listen to tucker carlson? by stupid_is · · Score: 1
      Yay - look at them breed!

      I admit I picked one I knew that was bad, Brazil has a growth of 1% pa - but thats only about 0.1% higher than US & Canada, and 4x more than the UK. Ireland is nice & high too at 1.16%. Oddly (or not), Afganistan is currently running at near 5% increase.

      --
      -- Intelligence is soluble in alcohol
    10. Re:people actually listen to tucker carlson? by Marxist+Hacker+42 · · Score: 1

      along with stamping out what I like to call "legislated morality".

      Has it ever occured to you that the 24th century Federation in Star Trek is made up ENTIRELY of legislated morality? If you subscribe to a set of shared values, and you write those values into law, you are legislating morality- even if the shared value is only "let me do what I want as long as I don't harm anybody else".

      --
      SJW: a person who perceives an injustice, and while correcting it, commits a greater injustice.
  6. In other news... by bmo · · Score: 4, Funny

    "Editors Zonk and Scuttle Monkey: Are they good for Slashdot or are they better in a white wine sauce?"

    --
    BMO - It is hot here, like a cow on fire

  7. How else is a trekkie... by clickety6 · · Score: 3, Funny

    ... supposed to go where no man has gone before?

    --
    ----------------------------------- My Other Sig Is Hilarious -----------------------------------
    1. Re:How else is a trekkie... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm sorry, but i've been there already. So have many others.

  8. Finally we get a website by juventasone · · Score: 5, Funny

    Unfortunately this site came a little late into my life, for myself, and some of my friends, we had to resort to finding our mates the hard way.. on IRC.

    1. Re:Finally we get a website by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Ah, IRC. Where it's so easy to act like a cunt without having one.

    2. Re:Finally we get a website by grumling · · Score: 1

      Why would anyone want to start a site for trekers? They only get traffic every 7 years!

      --
      "Well, good luck finding a judge that doesn't run a bestiality site."
  9. Is this supposed to be funny? by hummassa · · Score: 1

    At every trek convention I attended to in Brasil, the m:f ratio is 2:1 and the non-hot-f:hot-f ratio is 5:1

    IOW: A party with 4 female trekkies is EASY.

    --
    It's better to be the foot on the boot than the face on the pavement. ~~ tkx Kadin2048
    1. Re:Is this supposed to be funny? by 91degrees · · Score: 5, Funny

      Is this supposed to be funny?

      Yes.

      I exaggerated the male to female ratio of Trekkies for comic effect. The idea was that people would see the absurdity of there being fewer than 4 female Star Trek fans in the entire world, causing laughter.

      Hope that helps explain the concept, Commander Data.

    2. Re:Is this supposed to be funny? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

      If there are less than 4 female trekkies world-wide, then I'm married to one of them. I'm so lucky. :)

      She also loves Stargate, Battlestar and Farscape, has a healthy interest in IT, and is the mother of all goddesses; a Librarian.

    3. Re:Is this supposed to be funny? by PinkyDead · · Score: 1

      Are you sure about that non-hot-f:hot-f ratio?

      Here's a test - when you are looking at the hot females, if you hear wu-oo-hu-woo music and their faces are slightly blurry - then they might not be that hot.

      Or maybe it's the other way round, or maybe your just on Talos IV, or you could be drunk.

      --
      Genesis 1:32 And God typed :wq!
    4. Re:Is this supposed to be funny? by MobileTatsu-NJG · · Score: 1

      "The idea was that people would see the absurdity of there being fewer than 4 female Star Trek fans in the entire world, causing laughter."

      Enough of the Star Trek crap, it's too early in the mornin.

      --

      "I like to lick butts!" by MobileTatsu-NJG (#32700246) (Score:5, Informative)

    5. Re:Is this supposed to be funny? by ergowa · · Score: 1

      Wait, are you married to the same woman I am?

      My wife has an MLIS degree, likes Trek (original series, please, and occasionally DS9) and we met through a friend at an Anime movie.

    6. Re:Is this supposed to be funny? by dgatwood · · Score: 1
      Two down... which means at least one of the three I know must really not be a trekkie... or maybe they're aliens. Hmm. That would explain a few things....

      --

      Check out my sci-fi/humor trilogy at PatriotsBooks.

    7. Re:Is this supposed to be funny? by Gilmoure · · Score: 1

      Hey, my wife a degree in Library Science but she works as telecom analyst (with SCO unix boxes!). Now, my wife's a bit different; she wears glasses, she's tall, has long, straight brown hair and is...buxom. And she doesn't like Star Trek. She likes Dr. Who, StarGate, and BGII, though. And really crappy barbarian movies (Death Stalker II, for example). We met at an SCA party. She was also a professional belly dancer. I hit the jackpot.

      --
      I drank what? -- Socrates
  10. The ratio's a bit out of whack there by greg1104 · · Score: 4, Funny

    I haven't seen that many men all trying to bang the same woman since the last time I watched...wait, I wasn't supposed to admit to owning that movie. Nevermind.

  11. Not sure I understand... by Jugalator · · Score: 4, Informative

    What does online dating have to do with "trekkies"? :-/

    At least in the country I live in, online dating services have people from 18 to ~60 with interests ranging from gardening to space science to hair styling...

    Online dating is very accepted and mainstream here. It's just one form of dating along with visiting clubs. Heck, it may even be seen as more hip than that nowadays, because it's more new and "in".

    --
    Beware: In C++, your friends can see your privates!
    1. Re:Not sure I understand... by montyzooooma · · Score: 1

      I think the point he was trying to make was that online dating allows for more specific matching of interests, thereby allowing hardcore Trekkies to find love together. It's a fair observation no matter how obnoxiously it was made.

  12. Bah! by SeaFox · · Score: 5, Funny

    He also goes on to question whether allowing Trekkies to meet and mate is 'in the national interest.

    Wow, what a coincidence! Here I was just wondering if allowing Tucker Carlson to mate was in the national interest.

    1. Re:Bah! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      I believe a good sized portion of the nation have already told him to go mate with himself.

    2. Re:Bah! by elrous0 · · Score: 1
      He's actually one of the few people in the world arrogant enough to pull it off.

      -Eric

      --
      SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
    3. Re:Bah! by mph · · Score: 2, Funny
      He's actually one of the few people in the world arrogant enough to pull it off.
      I didn't even know you could pull it off. Make it red and sore, sure, but pull it off? Really?
    4. Re:Bah! by elrous0 · · Score: 1
      I didn't even know you could pull it off

      By neccessity, most Republicans are part machine. The cyborg augmentations are neccessary to replace the organs lost as a result of the black heart's inability to pump adequate blood to the extremities.

      -Eric

      --
      SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
  13. War on Trekism by my+$anity++0 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Trekkies are a national security risk. Trekkies are everywhere. I might even be a Trekkie. See, Trekkies tend to believe that people must be tolerant, and progress in science, in order for any aliens to pay serious attention to them. You can see why this isn't in the national interest. The effects were minimized before they started breeding. Luckily, many Trekkies are male, leading to certain problems in mating, and a Trekkie and a `Normal' have a good chance of having a normal child. However, the number of female Trekkies is not decreasing. We must stop this infection of our society.

  14. Carlson is a Putz. by jcr · · Score: 2

    Every Trekkie who ever lived is worth million Tucker Carlsons.

    -jcr

    --
    The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
  15. I married a Trekkie -- and lived by Roblimo · · Score: 3, Insightful

    My wife is a low-level Trekkie; a fan of the series, especially the original, but not one who goes to conventions or wears Trek-based costumes.

    We met before the Internet was open to the public -- the old-fashioned way, in a coffee shop where we were sitting near each other.

    I wasn't aware of her Trekkie tendencies for several months. Finding out about them changed nothing. We (obviously) ended up married anyway.

    1. Re:I married a Trekkie -- and lived by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      http://slashdot.org/articles/06/03/08/0251258.shtm l is giving me a 404! You'll get one guess to which story that link should go to.

    2. Re:I married a Trekkie -- and lived by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/03/08/025125 8 seems to work but isn't the link used at the frontpage. L A M E

      das asdlk asasldk as asldk asl asdlk asdl kaslasdk asld f ejawk ixcghbg aalsdaskl sdkljdaskl asdkldj asdld qHS LACJ ASJA SDFLK LASDJKALS DJ skowea dasdjlf sdkl How long does one have to wait????? A fortnight?

    3. Re:I married a Trekkie -- and lived by nkh · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Roblimo, thanks for allowing me to say this:

      <rant>
      I'm a geek, the kind that enjoys writing recursive functions in Lisp, but not one who goes to Linux conventions. I met my girlfriend on MSN (the new-fashioned way ;)

      She wasn't aware of my C++ tendencies for a few weeks, and when I told her, nothing changed and she doesn't mind me reading books about this Java thing. The truth is that she wants me to teach her a few things about programming now, and I want her to teach me a few things she knows so that we can enjoy more stuff together.

      The fact is that everyone's a nerd for something, most people are just "nerds about life and society", but some people are jealous and don't like Trekkies or computer geeks because they love what they do and asking if it's a good thing for the gene pool is insulting. Who cares who you're dating as long as you're enjoying yourself? (thanks for reading this off-topic rant)
      </rant>

    4. Re:I married a Trekkie -- and lived by edunbar93 · · Score: 1

      I wasn't aware of her Trekkie tendencies for several months. Finding out about them changed nothing.

      Yes, but you're a geek. If you were a Republican, it would have ended the relationship.

      --
      "No problem. I have the capacity to do infinite work so long as you don't mind that my quality approaches zero."-Dilbert
  16. Is anyone else scared? by jellomizer · · Score: 3, Insightful

    'Is this good for the gene pool?'

    I don't know about other people but statement like that really scare me. We as humans should really stop trying to control our evolution and let nature take its course.

    --
    If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
    1. Re:Is anyone else scared? by LordKazan · · Score: 1

      I have no problem with insightful and well thought out attempts to control our own gene pool - what I have a problem with is asshats like this guy tossing around "is it good for our gene pool?" based on absolutely nothing but the need to be an attention whore.

      --
      If you cannot keep politics out of your moderation remove yourself from the Mod Lottery.. NOW!
    2. Re:Is anyone else scared? by adyus · · Score: 1


      Weel, I ain'ts too shure 'bout that last statement, guv'nor!

      I mean, judging from what I see on TV on Oprah, Springer and the Brady Bunch, I for one think maybe a teensy bit of positive interference might be in order.

      After all, we've all seen Planet of the Apes, haven't we? ;)

    3. Re:Is anyone else scared? by spidercoz · · Score: 1

      What? No. We as humans have the right, no duty, to improve ourselves by any means necessary. "Let nature take its course" as you say is just stupid. We are nature. Whatever we do, is natural. Unnatural is impossible. But I think the more convincing argument would be to provide for the eventual eradication of dickweeds like Tucker Carlson. Which is more terrifying, a planet full of peaceful, socially inept Trekkies, or a planet full of assholes wearing bowties? I think the answer is obvious. Remember, parents who wear bowties have children who wear bowties. Good luck trying to sleep tonight.

      --
      "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - Evelyn Beatrice Hall, re Voltaire
    4. Re:Is anyone else scared? by bill_mcgonigle · · Score: 1

      I don't know about other people but statement like that really scare me. We as humans should really stop trying to control our evolution and let nature take its course.

      Humans will survive and evolve. The question becomes in what fashion?

      For instance, you might expect a Trekkie/Trekkie pairing to product a higher than average percentage of autistic kids. Austistic kids have their pros and cons - the rate at which they reproduce and/or kill non-autistic kids will ultimately determine their genetic success.

      Similarly, as education levels increase, reproduction rates fall. It's pretty clear that we're breeding out the drive for learning in our race. But we're never going to eliminate those traits, just change the balance. Probably the race will change how it's organized to accomodate those trends.

      --
      My God, it's Full of Source!
      OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
    5. Re:Is anyone else scared? by Lord+Ender · · Score: 1

      The idea that "natural" things are necessarily better than man-made things is a fallacy.

      Soon it will be a sin for parents to have a child which carries the heavy burden of genetic disease. - R. Edwards

      --
      A slashdotter who didn't build his own computer is like a Jedi who didn't build his own lightsaber.
  17. It's only somewhat dangerous by SEWilco · · Score: 5, Funny

    Trekkie dating is OK, although somewhat dangerous. Particularly if bystanders don't move quickly when the Klingon gets excited.

  18. NOW, THAT was funny ... :-) by hummassa · · Score: 0

    Which proves that you will eventually grasp the concept... The original post was just offensive.

    --
    It's better to be the foot on the boot than the face on the pavement. ~~ tkx Kadin2048
    1. Re:NOW, THAT was funny ... :-) by heinousjay · · Score: 1

      Are you seriously offended by that? I hope you don't have to interact with people in the real world as part of your daily routine. You may explode.

      --
      Slashdot - where whining about luck is the new way to make the world you want.
  19. Thing is... selection is becoming much easier. by Colin+Smith · · Score: 3, Interesting

    And it's not necessarily good for the human race as a whole.

    Take okcupid for example. Answer 500 muliple choice questions and the statistical grouping algorithm it uses matches you up with well lots of people who answered in a similar manner. You end up talking to people who think in a very similar way, often with similar interests. In fact it can be damned near telepathy at times. OK, that's great and getting on with someone is very easy but... As well as the influence of the nurture stuff there are underlying genetic mechanisms to the way people think and act but guess what, we're sorting these similar "good" and "bad" genes to be close to one another.

    The result is potentially increased incidence of genetic diseases. Ultimately I think things like this will weed out the bad genes naturally as they express themselves in children but there's the suffering and potentally increased healthcare costs.

    --
    Deleted
    1. Re:Thing is... selection is becoming much easier. by temojen · · Score: 1
      You end up talking to people who think in a very similar way, often with similar interests.

      ... But are in the wrong country, if you live near a border.

  20. Hey! I caan sshtop anytime I wants! by hummassa · · Score: 1

    Seriously, what is "wu-oo-hu-woo music"??
    And, no, my rate is accurate: one in six trekkies I knew was hot, one in forty was uber-hot ("Victoria's secret catalog level") -- and I knew 100+ trekkies.

    --
    It's better to be the foot on the boot than the face on the pavement. ~~ tkx Kadin2048
    1. Re:Hey! I caan sshtop anytime I wants! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And, no, my rate is accurate: one in six trekkies I knew was hot, one in forty was uber-hot ("Victoria's secret catalog level") -- and I knew 100+ trekkies.

      So... 16.66 hot ones, and 2.50 uber-hot? Is this somehow a subtle dig at the midget population? That's just offensive; midgets count as full people too, even if they are smaller.

    2. Re:Hey! I caan sshtop anytime I wants! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      > Seriously, what is "wu-oo-hu-woo music"??

      The Dr. Who theme. But then, all the Companions were hot.

      /fappity fap fap

    3. Re:Hey! I caan sshtop anytime I wants! by Crunchie+Frog · · Score: 1
      The Dr. Who theme. But then, all the Companions were hot.

      Even K9 ?

      --
      --- Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity
    4. Re:Hey! I caan sshtop anytime I wants! by PinkyDead · · Score: 1

      God! I shouldn't have to explain this.

      Captain Kirk lands on some rock somewhere and, for no reason at all, there are loads of beautiful women - they are actually ugly rock monsters, but when we see them they are all out of focus and the music in the background is kind of 'wu-oo-hu-woo'.

      Ok, music doesn't really translate into english very well - sue me!

      --
      Genesis 1:32 And God typed :wq!
  21. Methods of Matching by SeanDuggan · · Score: 2, Insightful
    Take okcupid for example. Answer 500 muliple choice questions and the statistical grouping algorithm it uses matches you up with well lots of people who answered in a similar manner. You end up talking to people who think in a very similar way, often with similar interests. In fact it can be damned near telepathy at times. OK, that's great and getting on with someone is very easy but... As well as the influence of the nurture stuff there are underlying genetic mechanisms to the way people think and act but guess what, we're sorting these similar "good" and "bad" genes to be close to one another.
    Well, first of all, you're assuming that these services match for similarity, that someone who put in the exact same answers as you will score the highest. While the early dating programs did exactly that, I highly suspect that the more modern ones work on a black box based on data from existing relationships. Odds are, the people who set it up don't even know whether it's a case of "like to like" or "opposites attract"; they just plug in all the data in and get back what appears to be the statistical patterns. The more people who sign up for your service, the more data that you have.

    The result is potentially increased incidence of genetic diseases. Ultimately I think things like this will weed out the bad genes naturally as they express themselves in children but there's the suffering and potentally increased healthcare costs.
    There's an additional fallacy you've got here, assuming that genetics are that influential. Unless the system is specifically matching to get blue-eyed, blond-haired, fair-skinned people together (eAryan?), I suspect a lot of the factors are personality-based, which is more of an environmental thing. I'll assuming that you're not arguing that a fondness for long walks on the beach correlate to a recessive gene coding for receding hairlines and color blindness.

    That said, there is some interesting data regarding the rise of autism in Silicon Valley which is suggested to be the result of a generation or two of geeks breeding with geeks due to the environmental concentration thereof. While this is more of a case of them living in a target-rich environment rather than specifically matching for it over personality matrices, there is some fit there in that today's society allows you to pretty much pick your mate rather than having to select from the small pool of your local area.

    --
    This sig has absolutely no significance and serves only to take up screen space and waste the time of the reader.
    1. Re:Methods of Matching by daviddennis · · Score: 1

      That doesn't sound like a good explanation of autism thanks to the lack of female geeks as a whole.

      When matchmaking services only catered to geeks, the ratio of men to women was a solid 10:1. I know because I ran a matching bulletin board system in the late 80s, and the imbalance of men and women was always a serious problem.(*)

      D

    2. Re:Methods of Matching by antic · · Score: 1

      So maybe dating sites need things like:

      "Men who liked the woman you're viewing also liked the following women: (list)"

      --
      'Thats they exact same thing a banana wrench monkey.'
    3. Re:Methods of Matching by Colin+Smith · · Score: 1

      ok so genetics have no effect, and then we have an increased incidence of autism when people with similar ways of thinking have kids...

      Genes do influence the way people think and behave, they would be rather useless items if they didn't, now wouldn't they. Introverted and extraverted traits for example are influenced by genes.

      okcupid btw, do describe their algorithm:
      http://www.okcupid.com/static?p=faaaq

      --
      Deleted
  22. People listen to and read trolls, sad to say by ianscot · · Score: 4, Interesting
    Tucker Carlson and the entire breed of televised "pundits" are little more than trolls. Think John Dvorak. People read them for the same reason this story caught our eye; because their job is to provoke reactions and get "eyeballs" on their show, or reading their column... And here we are, reacting.

    The most interesting aspect of this species of critter is their seemingly complete lack of self-reflection. They've got images -- the bow tie -- but they're entirely externally facing, and seem not to be subject to introspection. It's like the trade requires a sort of obtuseness in that area, to the point where stuff like Jon Stewart reaming him probably got filed away as "People who didn't follow the script" by Carlson.

    Small example of this lack of reflection: Carlson himself has an extremely high "nerd radar" presence for me. He doesn't seem that far from Trekkie country himself. Does he?

    --
    "Fundamentalism" isn't about divine morality. It's about human authority.
    1. Re:People listen to and read trolls, sad to say by aiabx · · Score: 1

      He has a superficial resemblance to the old "Dilton Doily" nerd stereotype with the bowtie and the big words, and he probably has trouble getting dates, but I don't see any sign of the positive characteristics that make up nerds; the curiousity, the open-mindedness, the indifference to the scorn of mainstream society.
      He is, in fact,the embodiment of the scorn of maintream society.

      --
      Just this guy, you know?
    2. Re:People listen to and read trolls, sad to say by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      As in any sort of debate, ad hominem attacks (e.g. Jon Stewart mocking Tucker Carlson's attire) just make the attacker look like he has nothing to contribute besides shallowness.

      Stewart's a smart man. He went on "Crossfire" to plug his book, and he got a lot of bonus airtime in which to do so.

    3. Re:People listen to and read trolls, sad to say by hey! · · Score: 1

      Small example of this lack of reflection: Carlson himself has an extremely high "nerd radar" presence for me. He doesn't seem that far from Trekkie country himself. Does he?

      In terms social polish, no.

      But what makes you think that trekkies don't have self-reflection? It's just that their image is illuminated by an faith in, and optimism about, social progress, what Mr. Carlson would call social engineering. It's no wonder he doesn't want them breeding.

      It's not as if the most extreme, way out there Trekkies are somehow unware that they're outside the mainstream. Quite the contrary. They're very aware they've never fit in the mainstream. But now that they have caught a glimpse of what they see as a brighter future, they don't have any interest in trying to fit in. Bully for them. The world is full enough of self-important blowhards like Carlson who are living in fantasy world and want to shove that down everyone's throats. What's wrong with people who create a bubble of a better world, as long as they don't force other people in?

      --
      Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
    4. Re:People listen to and read trolls, sad to say by RomulusNR · · Score: 1

      That's IT! THAT's the problem with America! Republican commentators are so self-aggrandizing and provocative that they are distracting the people, lowering productivity and raising blood pressures and redirecting potentially positive effort.

      PS: I'm being serious. I think I'm onto something here.

      --
      Terrorists can attack freedom, but only Congress can destroy it.
    5. Re:People listen to and read trolls, sad to say by IceAgeComing · · Score: 1

      As in any sort of debate, ad hominem attacks (e.g. Jon Stewart mocking Tucker Carlson's attire)

      You're funny. All that Tucker does during the entire interview is ad hominem (I counted at least 7),
      and you point the finger at Jon?

      It appears to me you're being dishonest.

    6. Re:People listen to and read trolls, sad to say by ianscot · · Score: 1
      You should have gotten the "insightfuls" that got attached to my lame post. If only one could cede them.

      Exactly.

      --
      "Fundamentalism" isn't about divine morality. It's about human authority.
  23. Eugenics Wars by pete-classic · · Score: 3, Funny

    Well, when it comes to Eugenics Wars it's better late than never.

    KHAAAAAAAAAN!

    -Peter

  24. There are other things that shouldn't procreate... by scolby · · Score: 3, Funny

    ...like men who wear bow ties.

  25. INTERNET : SERIOUS FUCKING BUSINESS by Hitto · · Score: 0, Troll

    Lighten up, it was just a JOKE. No need to be all serious and aloof as in "WELL THIS IS NOT FUNNY BECAUSE WE HAVE THOUSANDS OF FEMALE TREKKIES AND THIS IS S TIRED STEREOTYPE", if it's only just that. Geez, you sound like a furry who thinks he's persecuted and posts that rainbow image on /b/.

    Come on, mod me troll, you humorless bastards!

    PS : If you can't laugh at yourself, you're never gonna get laid.

    1. Re:INTERNET : SERIOUS FUCKING BUSINESS by PFI_Optix · · Score: 1

      If you can't laugh at yourself, you're never gonna get laid.

      Just be sure not to laugh at yourself while getting laid. Even these supposed "Trekkie girls" they say exist won't get the joke.

      --
      120 characters for a sig? That's bloody useless.
    2. Re:INTERNET : SERIOUS FUCKING BUSINESS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Come on, mod me troll, you humorless bastards!

      Okay! Done!

      PS : If you can't laugh at yourself, you're never gonna get laid.

      That's okay, because I'm laughing at you for falling right into *that* one!

    3. Re:INTERNET : SERIOUS FUCKING BUSINESS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      Lighten up, it was just a JOKE.

      It was a bad joke, because it was... wrong. Like myths or stereotypes, good jokes are based on a kernel of truth, and this wasn't. It was just a generic "geeks are all guys" joke, misapplied to a situation in which they aren't. It's like a joke about George W. Bush's waffling indecisiveness or him having sex with interns... when those aren't his faults. This is't a "tired trekkie stereotype", because it isn't a trekkie stereotype in the first place!

      PS : If you can't laugh at yourself, you're never gonna get laid.

      And if you laugh at lame jokes that show that you don't know what the fuck you're talking about, you won't get laid either.

  26. their web site for dating by Frederic54 · · Score: 1, Informative

    especially for trekkies, it's here:
    http://www.wrongplanet.net/romance/

    --
    "Science will win because it works." - Stephen Hawking
  27. As opposed to letting Tucker Carlson reproduce? by elrous0 · · Score: 3, Funny
    And is the fact that HE'S going to have children supposed to make me feel GOOD??

    -Eric

    --
    SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
  28. Drasticly Needed Action by malsdavis · · Score: 1

    On that rationale, why are the tens of thousands of redneck bars where high-school and no-school dropouts meet and mate causing further damage to the gene pool allowed?

    Take into account that a large proportion of these are incestual relationships and I think it becomes clear that in order to save the human race it is urgently necessary to nuke the whole of rural South-West USA!

    1. Re:Drasticly Needed Action by SEWilco · · Score: 2, Funny

      Hey! Damaged genes are the basis for evolution! That's our gene pool you're dissing. Not that I want to wade in that pool, but what crawls out might be interesting.

    2. Re:Drasticly Needed Action by Eli+Gottlieb · · Score: 1

      My grandma lives out there, you know, and she went to grad school!

    3. Re:Drasticly Needed Action by notanatheist · · Score: 1

      I think you meant the southeast USA. Perhaps extend as far west as Texass but that's it. NM and AZ are just fine ;-) You'll likely find more Trekkies in the southwest as well considering you've got NV w/ Area51 and NM with Roswell. Eh?!

    4. Re:Drasticly Needed Action by Locke2005 · · Score: 1

      Yes, but closing all the redneck bars wouldn't help... those people would still be picking each other up and family reunions, which would be even WORSE for the gene pool!

      --
      I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
  29. Why not? by reachums · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Why wouldn't you want to marry a Trekkie? I'm a Trekkie, my friends are Trekkeis, my husband's a Trekkie, my Father is a Trekkie. all of us managed to find love, some have even reproduced. I've yet to have someone come to my home while I had Star Trek on (NG or DS9) and said anything negative about it. infact, normaly it's something to the effect of "Oh, I remember this episode!!"

    Trekkies just aren't really all that rare anymore.

    --
    "Just call me Girly Blank"
    1. Re:Why not? by boy_afraid · · Score: 0

      It's the Trekkies that work at NASA, it's the Trekkies that keep the internet running, it's the Trekkies that keep your computers working, it's the Trekkies that you run to when you can get your fan-dangled whatch-u-ma-call-it working, it's the Trekkies that created the mysterious In-tar-net, it's the Trekkies that you bow down and worship these days.

      Hell, it's the redneck, close-minded, crack-heads, wasteful souls that take up space that shouldn't breed. Today Darwinism is in reverse: The stupid people breed like rats and the intelligent smart ones know to stay away from kids.

      P.S. I'm a god among nerds and married, and I refuse to have a sucubus kid attached to me.

  30. Trekkies are good people by spaceyhackerlady · · Score: 1, Interesting

    When I was a kid, my Mom and Dad used to let me stay up late on Thursday night to watch a strange new show, Star Trek. Star Trek's view of the universe, science and technology stuck. Like many people I meet of my generation (I'm 44), I was inspired to a scientific/technical career by Star Trek, the space race, and so on, while I was a kid. This has to be A Good Thing, IMHO.

    The one real issue in all of this is the way that lots of mildly autistic engineering folks (most engineering types live life their own way, in their own world) are meeting and mating with other mildly autistic engineering folks, producing profoundly autistic kids.

    Some years ago I owned a chunky silver chain necklace, long before the hip hop morons started sporting such things. It had a definite Klingon look to it, and if anybody asked I would tell them I had had a relationship with the Klingon Ambassador's daughter, and it was a going-away present when her dad was posted back to Kronos. An interesting relationship. If anybody asked about the bruises, I looked them right in the eye and told them. :-)

    ...laura

  31. OH NO! by Spy+der+Mann · · Score: 1

    I'm a Trekkie, my friends are Trekkeis, my husband's a Trekkie, my Father is a Trekkie...

    OH NO! THEY'RE MULTIPLYING! GAHHHH!

    *Jumps out the window*

  32. Of course it isn't by danpsmith · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Just think if the US populace had more intelligent/nerdy people get together and procreate, why, there might be more intelligent people out there. And then who would be left to watch Tucker Carlson?

    --
    Judges and senates have been bought for gold; Esteem and love were never to be sold.
  33. Online Dating by danpsmith · · Score: 4, Insightful

    As people tend nowadays to leave their house less and less thanks to the news media and their condemned perspective on the world in general. And since there are now less social venues as parks and drive-ins turn into parking lots and shopping malls, online dating has exploded. Now people like Tucker Carlson are going to say that's bad too? What is a person who doesn't want to pick up a mate at a bar supposed to do if they aren't in a friend circle with a bunch of single females? You know, real life isn't like Friends or Seinfeld for everyone. Sometimes people have to venture outside of their social group for a mate. Everyday the choices of activities outside the house get slimmer, and the social ones even more so. It's getting to the point where everyone is a potential online dating candidate because nobody is meeting anyone new anymore.

    --
    Judges and senates have been bought for gold; Esteem and love were never to be sold.
  34. Procreation? I thought kissing was a first step by michaelmalak · · Score: 1
    I guess things have changed since 1986.

    William Shatner on SNL

  35. My wife found me online by wwphx · · Score: 1

    My wife has a PhD in astronomy/astrophysics. She's not an uber computer geek, but lives in unix for her work environment, so she has an Apple laptop. She has major addictions in Harry Potter and now Stargate: Atlantis, not to mention renaissance festival fan.

    We met online at a dating site called eMode, now operating under a different name, and were married 18 months later. We have our first anniversary coming up in June, and have yet to have a fight or even cross words.

    And you'll never find Carlson, CNN, or Fox News on at our house. We get our news online, from Jon Stewart/Stephen Colbert, and NPR. We have this horrible habbit of wanting to form our own opinions, not having them forced upon us by the likes of Limbaugh.

    --
    When you sympathize with stupidity, you start thinking like an idiot.
    1. Re:My wife found me online by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Psssst...The Daily Show is not a news program...

    2. Re:My wife found me online by CableModemSniper · · Score: 1

      We have our first anniversary coming up in June, and have yet to have a fight or even cross words.

      That's not good... You have to fight about something, sometime. I hope the two of you aren't secretly nursing hurt feelings that you won't express in order to "keep the peace". Either that or your wife is a fembot.

      --
      Why not fork?
  36. It's all relative by Locke2005 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Allowing Trekies to breed can't possibly be any worse for the gene pool than, say, allowing rednecks to breed...

    --
    I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
  37. Librarian/Trekkie correlation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Interesting... my wife is also a librarian, and a big Star Trek fan (taped all the original episodes when they first aired). She can name the title of any original episode within the first eight seconds of viewing (without seeing the title displayed, of course).

  38. Yeah Great Site.. by temojen · · Score: 1

    If you're not in the US, you can search only by country.... Not very useful when you're in a country bigger than the US.

    1. Re:Yeah Great Site.. by CableModemSniper · · Score: 1

      Russia? China? Australia? Canada? (Is Canada bigger? I'm not sure). Am I missing one?

      --
      Why not fork?
  39. Better start a national program by slavemowgli · · Score: 2, Funny

    Tucker Carlson is right, of course - trekkies mating is not something we can have. Why, if intelligent people had children, then the children might be intelligent, too - and who would still vote for the republicans in 50 years then? Just think about it - George IV. might not even become president anymore!

    So we definitely need a program to keep this from happening. I wonder what we should call it; since it's a program for trekkies, how about "4T"? Or better yet... T-4! Yes, that's perfect!

    Thanks, Tucker. Just what would we do without people like you?

    --
    quidquid latine dictum sit altum videtur.
  40. Obligatory Futurama Quote by Braxton_the_Covenant · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Takei: ....You see, the show was banned after the Star Trek wars.

    Zapp: You mean after the vast migration of Star Wars fans?

    Nichols: No, that was the Star Wars trek. [Some mechanical hands come out of her jar, pick up a video tape and put it in the VCR.] By the 23rd century, Star Trek fandom had evolved from a loose association of nerds with skin problems into a full-blown religion.

    [On the screen, a service is held at the Church of Trek.]

    Priest: [on TV] And Scotty beamed them to the Klingon ship where they would be no Tribble at all.

    Congregation: [chanting; on TV] All power to the engines.

    Nichols: As country after country fell under its influence, world leaders became threatened by the movements power. [In Berlin a sign is unveiled saying "Welcome To Nazi Planet Episode Land. Formerly Germany".] And so the Trekkies were executed in the manner most befitting virgins.

    [On the rim of a volcano two men throw Trekkies into the flames.]

    Man: [on TV] He's dead, Jim! [They throw another in.] He's dead, Jim! [Another.] He's dead, Jim!

    Nichols: Finally, the sacred texts were banned.

    [The episodes are put inside a torpedo casing.]

    Takei: The last copies of the 79 episodes and six movies were dumped on the forbidden world, Omega 3, along with that blooper reel where the door doesn't close all the way.

    [As he speaks, a ship that looks like an Eagle from Space: 1999 fires the torpedo. It hits the planet like Spock's coffin in Star Trek: The Wrath Of Khan. The video ends.]

    Nimoy: Thus, Star Trek was forever scoured from human memory.

    Bender: Another classic science-fiction show cancelled before its time.

  41. Re:If all of the Gamma quadrant couldn't defeat us by Jozer99 · · Score: 1

    I thought it was great! Did you go to the website?!?! I counted 4 women in the first 50 personals!

  42. Trekkie+Trekkie=Trekkie? by Kuukai · · Score: 1

    My parents aren't trekkies and I am. I find it highly unlikely that "trekkies breeding" will result in a generation of inherent trekkies. In fact, if both your parents are trekkies you're probably more likely to rebel and like something different during adolescence, I'd think.

    --
    Sendou Wave Kick!!
  43. OMG! by aZiXx · · Score: 1

    What stupid slashdot post. Post something that has at least some truth to it. Geez!

  44. They're just staying in character... by SteeldrivingJon · · Score: 1


    They're enthusastic to go where no woman has gone before.

    --
    September 2011: Looking for Cocoa/iOS work in Boston area Cocoa Programmer Quincy, MA
  45. Maybe Fox(not)News will fire him too? by BrianRaker · · Score: 1

    ...and people wonder why he was fired from CNN. Sheesh.

    Oh yeah, John Stewart showed him up, and in my book was shown to be a more consumate television professional in the entire debate that was once called "Crossfire".

    --
    As I walk through the valley of death I fear no one, for I am the meanest sonova bitch in the valley!