Is the gaydar a myth or something that truly exists?

[xyz48B]

See that guy over there? He's definitely gay--he just doesn't know it yet!

Bi now. Gay later. ?

[+ sniper]

I think most people have "tells" that you can pick up on. The most obvious one is who do they check out. Guys looking at women aren't really all that subtle about it so they're fairly easy to pick out. The guys checking out guys are more discreet about it, but their eyes will still move when an attractive guy walks into the room.

But given there are so many more straight guys than gay guys, even a % correct that sounds fairly high will have a large number of mishits. If you are 90% accurate and make guesses on 1000 guys, 100 of whom are gay, you are going to pick out 90 of the 100 gay guys, mislabel 10 of them as straight, and then ALSO mislabel 90 straight guys as gay. So the accuracy in terms of who you called gay is only 50%!

This phenomenon is the reason why lie detector have little practical application. When most people are innocent, calling someone guilty is still a coin flip.

[orville]

"See that guy over there? He's definitely gay--he just doesn't know it yet!"

 

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Bi now. Gay later. ?

Edited November 27, 2020 by orville

[Just Chuck]

I say this without any evidence at all, but: I think Gaydar is a collection of a bunch of really subtle clues that our animal brains pick up on but our educated/western-cultured brains don't. Tiny changes in blush response, pupil dilation, gestures and body language and maybe subtle scents our bodies produce in reaction to degrees of sexual attraction.

[EastbayMike]

I say this without any evidence at all, but: I think Gaydar is a collection of a bunch of really subtle clues that our animal brains pick up on but our educated/western-cultured brains don't. Tiny changes in blush response, pupil dilation, gestures and body language and maybe subtle scents our bodies produce in reaction to degrees of sexual attraction.

Is this to be an empathy test? Capillary dilation of the so-called blush response? Fluctuation of the pupil. Involuntary dilation of the iris...

[Just Chuck]

Is this to be an empathy test? Capillary dilation of the so-called blush response? Fluctuation of the pupil. Involuntary dilation of the iris...

"You're in a desert, walking along in the sand, when all of a sudden..."

 

I just watched the original US Theatrical release last weekend and was indeed thinking of that when I wrote my post!

[+ DERRIK]

It is likely it is real. we all have the ability to pick up on tells from others.

 

I have not had affinity to gambling (cards, races, etc). If I did - there is good chance I could be in a crowd and pick the right person to ask where I could find a game.

 

If I was into cocaine - I could find someone to help me score.

 

Since I don't have either propensity - I would not be likely to score.

[+ WilliamM]

I got it wrong so often, especially with women.

 

Me too. I can't tell even when someone reads poetry rather than fiction or nonfiction