That precious image you have of yourself as a unique, discerning, free-thinking individual who's guided by your own particular tastes and idiosyncrasies? Sorry to crush one of the few delusions that makes life worth living, but it's a total fantasy, at least according to Harvard psychologist Daniel Gilbert, whose book Stumbling on Happiness insisted that people have no idea what will make them happy. He's now conducted research to prove that, even when it comes to romance, we're better off going by the experience and advice of others, rather than trusting our own minds. And just to lend further authority to the study, it involved speed dating!

A tipster tells us billionaire Clinton pal Ron Burkle (and his model wrangler!) was "lurking around" Justin Timberlake's William Rast show at Fashion Week last night. Time for a listicle of creepy old ladies' men!

Sure, other writers have gone to seduction classes undercover. But how many were female? And how many told their male classmates they'll always be "schlubby" beta males?

So Ryan Adams is now engaged to Mandy Moore. Not that you'd know it from his website; we had to read Us Weekly's report. Discretion: yet another way Moore has reformed her man.

As far as media memes go, golddiggers are now like Somali pirates: the not-so-innocent repository for all our fears, fantasies, and ill-informed speculation. There they were, a low-profile subsection of society, going about their business of spending men's money, making themselves look pretty, and disdaining feminism. Now, not only are wealthy suitors in much shorter supply, but suddenly everyone has an opinion on the whys and wherefores of choosing to date rich.

Not that we would ever imply that you won't be taught everything you need to know about the mysteries of dating by the He's Just Not That Into You movie (even though it made the Observer's Sara Vilkomerson "not want to be a member of the entire human race"), but a new study has shown that a woman should indeed play hard to get unless she wants to end up a lonely spinster, cursing the day she decided not to buy a copy of The Rules.

Being a media mogul can get tiring. Could the news that New York magazine owner Bruce Wasserstein is marrying a younger woman signal a bit of loss of interest in his marriage to the magazine?

If you've been spending hours at the gym each week hoping to meet that special someone, you've been wasting your time. According to the new Zagat guide to dating—yes, they're doing dating now—"less than 2 percent had luck finding love at the gym, in a place of worship, or on a blind date." (We're guessing gay men hooking up in the showers at David Barton or Crunch didn't qualify as "dating.") Ten percent of the people reported that "random encounters in public places" was a great way to meet new people. Just something to keep in mind the next time a weird guy starts rubbing up against you on the subway. [Zagat]

Oh, look, someone started "Dating a Banker Anonymous," where vapid women meet to whine about the empty lives they chose and the broke, impotent men they are now stuck with.

How was the hellish "Fashion Meets Finance" gold-diggers-meet-broken-men dating event last night? The New York Press' Matt Harvey went to find out! And apparently found an Andre Sparkling Wine commercial, circa 1998:

You may want to think twice before you go home with the guy who takes you out for dinner tonight. A group of researchers say their new "mathematical model" proves that "more reliable men" are willing to wait longer before having sex for the first time. [Telegraph]

We may have resurrect the word "Douchebag" for a day, because it's time for another "Fashion Meets Finance" Douche-Dating extravaganza! Jim Cramer will be there! And we have the entire list of attendees:

The train wreck that is the thread "What an UNbelievable JERK!" on dating site OkCupid.com is spreading quickly via Digg, Reddit, etc. It's real, but might as well be scripted.

Great news for desperate singles: According to behavioral scientist Larry Young, who studies the chemical basis of love and romance while apparently watching telenovelas, "recent advances in the biology of pair bonding mean it won't be long before an unscrupulous suitor could slip a "love potion" in our drink." We can't wait for men to start paranoically keeping an eye on their beers in bars. [Reuters]

Looking for a new job after your layoff? You might want to target online dating companies, which are positively raking it in as the recession intensifies everyone's loneliness and insecurity. Sites like Match.com are seeing major jumps in new memberships, because people "crave reassurance and comfort during stressful economic times like this," as one New Jersey therapist puts it.

Paul Janka—the poor man's Mystery, a super-aggressive Manhattan pickup artist who's been known to get rough with unwilling ladies, may or may not have a new reality show in the works. That's what he claims in his latest newsletter—and he's looking for a wingman! You know, "one intermediate player and a true beginner, a guy who has real difficulty with meeting girls." Hey guys: do you have what it takes to be Janka's wingman? Previous activities include hanging around parks and appearing on Dr. Phil's "sad perv" segment.

If the economic crash helped usher in a new political era, it has also, no less importantly, caused a quiet revolution in Manhattan dating rituals, at least within the particular group of Wall Street men and golddigger women accustomed to viewing romance as top-rung prostitution. Joshua David Stein of Page Six Magazine goes out into the field ("Meatpacking District hot spot Bistro Bagatelle"), where his anthropological eye identifies as "fake" both the handbags (Louis Vuitton clutches) and the hair (blonde) of three Eastern Euro chicks.

While New York women hoping to bag themselves an investment banker have seen the pool of potentials tragically dry up, take a moment to spare a thought for the girls in Tokyo—at least the ones whose lives revolved around dating Wall Streeters who'd been transferred to work in the city's Roppongi Hills complex. Now, as 25-year-old Haruna Hiraki gloomily says to her friend at a bar that had once been a prime spot: "I told you this place was finished. Lehman, Goldman: They've all been sacked or gone back to America."

"How To Date Without Going Online." Sad and baffling. "The Gipper" is involved somehow.

Are you one of those horrible thoughtless New Yorkers who no one can stand to be around and yet you believe everyone else is the problem? Are you a woman? And single and looking for some free meals? Craigslist to the rescue again! It seems that the poster is fed up with his sister's mega-douche boyfriend and is seeking a female version of the obnoxious bounder so that his beloved sis can see for herself what it's like to have a sibling swallowed up by the black hole of a shit relationship. "Candidates should be painful to be around, obnoxious, thoughtless and immature. She should use terms like, 'tragic,' 'as if' and various internet terms like 'omg,' 'lol,' 'jk,' etc." Click through for more qualifications and a bigger pic.