Even more irritating, given the popup ads on every page, was the Ethical Philosophy Selector which after a tedious questionnaire selected “Sartre” as my ideal thinker. Which is merely to say that the questionnaire showed me to be no philosopher. It’s like testing my singing voice and then telling me that my favorite musician must be Mark E. Smith. Philosophy isn’t a genre of belief, but of discussion.

That’s what’s always been wrong with all this automated matching crap, and why search engines, library browsing, and meeting folks at parties still rule supreme:

What’s required in a friend isn’t resemblance but recognition.