The world certainly has changed ..that's for sure. And yes, looks matter. However.. it doesn't change the fact that all the time there are examples of couples who are mismatched in terms of looks. Some of the prettiest girls I have on facebook...i'll admit to having been shocked what their boyfriends look like. Me and a mate when we go out, we've jokingly made a game of (quietly) saying to each other 'whats she doing with him!?'...we say its so often it's become annoying but its made me realise just how common it is to see hot girls with guys who would never be considered attractive by people on these forums. We live in a shallow world but a far better investment is to spend time finding and working in your passions in life, rather than what you see in a mirror. 'Looks' fade for everybody.
I've probably said it before but by far the most beautiful girl I've ever seen in my life was into me when I travelled with a completely shaved head... (zero guard). Now, i know that a shaved head doesn't suit me as well as having hair...hence the fact that I came on a hair loss forum...but this girl for whatever reason was attracted to me and it was because of the connection we had/what we talked about etc just as much as anything physical. I remember that the moment I could really see her give off the strongest signals (hair flicking, eyes dilating etc) was when I talked about my goals...my desire to start a business in future etc. Anyway..she lived in another country to me and it was never going to work. She was clearly someone who was attracted to intelligence because her boyfriend is a professor and despite being an ok looking guy, he is balding and not exactly a physical guy. If, 'it were all about looks' as some naive people like to state on here, she would be with someone else...this girl could pretty much get any guy she wanted.
Regarding talk of looksmaxing...chin implants etc...honestly...i think it is BS. If you have a major flaw...ok, maybe. But shookwun is someone who has admitted to having BDD and if you look at the symptoms of BDD, constantly seeking cosmetic surgery is one of them. Look at his posts...he talks about his nature being self destructive and he is right. Tbh i know exactly where he is coming from because I have elements of that myself. But it is counter productive and leads to unhappiness. Saying stuff like 'looksmaxing is all theee is to life' (or something like that) is truly one of the saddest things I've ever read on here. Learning new things, helping other people, making the world a better place, travelling, having children....nope...."looksmaxing". Messed up.
Do we need to have this conversation over and over again?
Good looks doesn't guarantee you success in life, but it helps a lot. Shookwun wants to spend ~$10,000, a day of surgery, a few days of recovery (maybe two weeks I don't know), to improve his looks. It just doesn't seem like such a terrible investment. There are far more stupid things people spend money on, for example ~$150,000 for a Masters in Business Administration at a non-elite university. Really, there are so many worse things.
There are all sorts of examples of 7's dating 9's and so on. You want to know something? You're more likely to date a 9 if you're a 9 than an 8, and you're more likely to date a 9 if you're an 8 than a 7, and so on. Yes, personality matters, try and be a good person ... by all evidence Shookwun is a go-getter. For example instead of coming up with lame excuses to not go to the gym, he goes to the gym.
One of the most beautiful women I know is married to a bald guy. She's gorgeous, I've seen her naked lol. I have not met the guy, I bet he's a great guy. It is also important to have a good personality. Perhaps there's not enough focus on that, but that's intrinsic to the forum. This is a hair loss forum. We come here due to BDD.
But about this girl lighting up when you spoke about your goals ... I bet your goals would have been utterly irrelevant if you didn't meet her minimal threshold. Even if you had a credible plan to cure breast and ovarian cancer, it wouldn't have mattered.
There's a ~400 page thread on bodybuilding.com, "Were you treated differently after losing weight", where people discuss their experiences, of which there is a wide range. If you lose weight, the world treats you better. But they also talk about personality, what many of the posters have said is that after losing weight, one needs to lose "the fat guy mentality".