An Enduring Assumption About Love
This is an edition of The Wonder Reader, a newsletter in which our editors recommend a set of stories to spark your curiosity and fill you with delight. Sign up here to get it every Saturday morning. For as long as people have been looking for love, many have been convinced that they know exactly what it looks like. We might talk about having a “type”: someone with certain traits, habits, beliefs, or quirks that we assume will add up to a successful match. But that certainty is often an illusion, Olga Khazan writes. Studies suggest that what people say they want in a partner rarely predicts whom they actually fall for—or whom they build a relationship with. Chemistry, timing, shared experiences, and the slow work of falling in love with someone tend to matter far more than the traits that some people screen for on a dating-app profile. This Valentine’s Day, explore stories that challenge the idea that love is about finding the “right kind” of person. On Love and Choice Most People Don’t …
