For most of us, Friday and Saturday nights are broken up into three parts:

First, we hit up what we like to call the pre-bar. Here we start off with a drink or two and mingle with friends.

Then several groups of people join from several different pre-bars for a night out and possibly some more drinking at one of Mad-towns wide array of bars.

Finally, if we have not had our share of fun by then, to the after-bar we go. Polishing off the last of the booze, we are now mingling with friends and strangers alike, but that really makes no difference.

Supposing you took the two-drink option at each stop, you are now six drinks into the Madison ritual and feeling a bit more comfortable than at the pre-bar.

Not to mention, that girl or guy you thought was somewhat cute at 10 p.m. is now looking gorgeous at 2:30 a.m., and for some reason it seems a heck of a lot easier asking for his or her phone number than it was four hours ago.

For many, this ritual serves as a way to meet significant others. Spot out one you like. Woo the person over by buying him or her a drink. Then ask for the person’s phone number at the end of the night.

For the lucky few, this system seems to work, but for the rest of campus it is to be repeated weekend after weekend, night after night. This is because the complexity of male-female attraction goes far beyond a few drinks to loosen you up.

According to an article by Dr. Claire McLoughlin of the Royal Society of Chemistry, men and women are attracted to each other because of hormonal and genetic chemistry.

So although we may meet someone on a Friday or Saturday night and find him or her good-looking, it does not mean he or she is someone we are necessarily compatible with.

McLoughlin says men and women are instinctively attracted to each other’s pheromones, or the scent we give off. This smell is as unique to each person as his or her fingerprint.

Additionally, people naturally seek out someone with an immune system different than their own, but also similar enough to their own so they have to potential to create strong and healthy offspring.

Moreover, when two people are attracted to each other, the production of certain hormones such as phenylethylamine increases. And seeing as how the same chemicals make up foods like chocolate and strawberries, perhaps the Madison ritual should consider nixing the alcohol and opting for the obvious sensual dessert.

So you see, we go through this ritual over and over, when in actuality much of what we are trying to accomplish is out of our hands and in our genes. A one night encounter will not likely spur true love because numerous studies have shown that people who are attracted to each other must spend more time together in order for chemicals such as oxytocin (a.k.a. “the cuddling chemical”) to increase. Such chemicals are what help the bond grow from lust to love.

Although alcohol deceives us into thinking we are compatible with many people we meet, it is probably not the case.

Going out gives us the chance to find people who we have the potential to be attracted to, but I do not see love at first sight occurring anywhere in our Madisonian ritual once we have all removed our fuzzy glasses.

Lindsay Mosher ([email protected]) is a sophomore intending to major in journalism.