For Londoners, gray matter(1) is the new black.

Speed dating(2) and clubbing just don't seem to fill the void(3) for many lonely hearts any more. "Intellidating(4)" is being acclaimed as the hot new way to romance.

Debating societies, art classes and poetry readings -- all are thriving(5) in the British capital as dating turns cerebral(6).

The appropriately named Sebastian Shakespeare wrote in London's Evening Standard newspaper: "Debates and poetry readings are fast becoming London's most romantic nights out."

One entrepreneur(7) acting on the trend is Ginny Greenwood, whose Futures Squared club aims at cash-rich, time-poor singles.

"You are not concentrating on what is happening from the navel(8) to the knee -- you are connecting to the gray matter," she told Reuters.

"They have got the income and the intelligence: they just need someone to organize their social diaries."

"I think intellidating is a great phrase," she said. "I'm sure it will end up in the dictionary. If you are an intelligent person in an important position at work, you are not going to hang out in a bar or go speed dating."

If music is the food of love, then poetry feeds the soul as novelist Josephine Hart discovered when organizing her sell-out Poetry Hour in the hallowed(9) confines(10) of the British Library.

"I do hope that intellidating does enter people's consciousness. There is such a dearth(11) of anything that is profound," she told Reuters. "Young people are very hungry for something that has depth and importance."

John Gordon and Jeremy O'Grady set up Intelligence Squared because they wanted to make debating sexy.

"I think there is a hunger for this stuff in a world that is both more complex but also dumbing down(12)," O'Grady told Reuters. "There is an awful gap in one's emotional needs."

"Whether it is dating or debating is debatable but this represents an opportunity for people who want intelligent dating," O'Grady said.

对于伦敦人来说，智慧是最新时尚。
 
闪电约会和逛夜总会已经不能满足很多孤单的心灵了。“智慧约会”则逐渐成为最热门的浪漫约会方式。

研讨社区、艺术课堂和诗歌阅读—在英国首都，当约会变得越来越深刻的时候， 这些都是很流行的方式。

一位自称塞巴斯蒂安·莎士比亚在《伦敦夜标》报纸上写道：“讨论和读诗正快速成为伦敦最浪漫的夜会内容。”

基尼·格林伍德跟随时尚开了一家期货平方俱乐部，专门服务那些有钱没时间的单身一族。

她对路透社说：“你不再只是把注意力停留在肚脐和膝盖之间—你正在做一件很智慧的事情。”

“他们有钱，并且受过良好的教育：他们只是需要一个人来为他们组织社交活动。”

“我觉得智慧约会将成为一个非常棒的名词，”她说：“我肯定，最终字典会把它纳入进来。如果你受过良好的教育，在工作中担任很重要的职位，你就不会去酒吧或者玩闪电约会。”

小说家约瑟芬·哈特在神圣的英国图书馆中开辟了一块地方，组织非常受人欢迎的“诗歌小时”活动。在活动中，她发现如果音乐是爱情的食粮，那么诗歌就是灵魂的源泉。

“我真心希望智慧约会可以引起人们的关注。现在太缺乏有深度的东西，”她对路透社说：“年轻人非常渴望有深度并且重要的东西。”

约翰·戈登和杰里米·奥格莱蒂开了一家“智慧平方”，希望可以让讨论变得更有趣。

“我觉得当今的世界既复杂又傻瓜，很需要这样一种东西，” 奥格莱蒂告诉路透社说：“人类情感中总有一块可怕的空虚。”

奥格莱蒂说：“到底这算约会还是讨论的确说不太清，但是它的确能给需要智慧约会的人一个机会。”