Here i go again with my endless human experiments. I'm not even sure if five samples would be enough to draw my conclusions from. The question for today is what constitutes to cheating? According to one of my five samples, cheating is any form of body contact with another person of the opposite sex. One of them said that any form of communication to another party as long as one of them intends to have a relationship beyond friendship. Another person said it's never cheating unless there is sex involved while another added it should only be sex with penetration. My last sample (who is a guy) simply said, "What is vague about it?". He said a guy knows when he is cheating. just like the kid in the story, The Emperor's New Clothes, he asked the most intelligent stupid question. All the while i thought guys don't see things the same way women do. Or maybe some do and some don't or won't admit to it. I think i would know when i'm cheating. I am conscious when i cheat. The only reason why this question would seem vague is when i am trying to be defensive. When one of my samples said it all boils down to one person's intention then my theory becomes void. The thing is i can date another person (assuming that i am committed) and say, i don't have the intention to have a relationship beyond friendship. Or worse, you can have sex and say the same thing. But wait, i think i'm having an aha moment (from Oprah). It says as long as one of you intends to have a relationship beyond friendship. It didn't specify who. Meaning it could be the person who has a commitment or the person you are cheating with. And usually even if the committed one can and would deny it, the other party is the one who wants to take the relationship to another level. I guess unless both of you (suspect and accessory)have the same intention then it is not cheating. Now what about on the perspective of the cheatee (is there such a word)? When i tried to turn the question around, most of my samples have different answers. I asked them, when do you think your partner is cheating on you and most of them gave me less limited answers. Double standards, of course. Why can't we think this way? Not how my partner would feel when im doing this but how i would feel when my partner is doing this. three out of five samples said it is not thier fault if the outside party initiated first or basically, did the first move. in my opinion, it doesn't matter. If my boyfriend responded then they are both at fault. He can blame the girl, alcohol level, hormones or whatever but obviously those are just lame excuses. You are conscious when you cheat but it's just a much better excuse not to be.