‘Intellidating’ takes over the US dating scene

WASHINGTON, DC: Intellidating, a London phenomenon that originated sometime in 2002, is fast taking over the dating scene in the US, a Washington Post report indicates. Tired of online matchmakers and other fad concepts such as speed dating, singles in the US gradually, but surely, are turning over a leaf with intelligent dating — a phenomenon where youngsters meet others in a public place and listen to lectures, exchange views on world affairs or debate a documentary or a film, instead of the usual dinner-and-a-dance routine.

“Let’s face it, there really is nothing more sensual than caressing someone’s mind,” the paper quoted Paul Holdengräber, as saying. Holdengräber launched New York Public Library’s live lecture series that is now a staple of New York’s “intellidating” scene. “Two years ago, the average age at library lectures was 68. It is now 41 and falling, driven down partly by a new crop of cutting-edge guests including underground cartoonists Robert Crumb and Aline Kominsky-Crumb and director Jonathan Demme (The Silence of the Lambs),” the report says.

The report adds: “Intellidating,” first coined in England in 2002, sprang from “Intelligence Squared,” a live discussion series launched by a couple of British moguls whose professed aim was to make debating “sexy.” Heated debates on topics ranging from “Monogamy Is Bad for the Soul” to “Maggie Thatcher Saved Britain” brought in the London glitterati, including actor Hugh Grant and, until their split in February, svelte girlfriend and socialite Jemima Khan.”

Canadian blogger Karen Ruby says, “When was the last time you had an intelligent and thought-provoking debate with someone that opened your mind to new ideas, thoughts, views and that affected you profoundly? Isn’t it true that a man seems more fascinating and sexy the more intelligent he is?”

Intelllidating venues range from public libraries to think-tank meetings to museums to art galleries. The Washington Post says, “The concept leapt across the pond to New York last year with the American version of Intelligence Squared — IQ2US — launched by philanthropist and businessman Robert Rosenkranz. Housed inside the Asia Society building on the Upper East Side, the popular events have lured a following, including conservative pundit Monica Crowley and her boyfriend, the venture capitalist Bill Siegel.

The cheaper seats are peppered with budding young brainiacs who find heightened stimulation in verbal joust. A 45-minute cocktail reception precedes each debate, after which comes a cranial lucha libre where, on one night, author Michael Crichton sparred with other panelists on global warming. For the right set, it can be quite the aphrodisiac.”