Next year, NASA’s Europa Clipper will embark on a remarkable journey of 1.8 billion miles to reach Jupiter’s icy Galilean moon. An exceptional addition to the spacecraft will be a captivating poem engraved on its surface. Penned by U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón, the poem, titled “In Praise of Mystery: A Poem for Europa,” serves as a unique tribute to the mission’s enigmatic endeavor. While it may initially seem paradoxical to attach an ode to mystery to a fact-finding spacecraft, the truth remains that space is a vast puzzle, full of untold wonders waiting to be discovered. This sentiment aligns with the profound words of astronomer Carl Sagan, who stated in a 1979 essay, “I like a universe that includes much that is unknown, and, at the same time, much that is knowable.” The pursuit of knowledge and understanding is at the core of all scientific endeavors, including the exploration of love.
The study of romantic love and attraction transformed into a formal discipline during the 1980s, culminating in the interdisciplinary field of relationship science. Bringing together diverse branches of knowledge such as neuroscience, anthropology, psychology, and evolutionary biology, this burgeoning field is currently experiencing a surge in research. A search of the National Library of Medicine’s PubMed database reveals that over half of the papers written on romantic love since 1953 have been published in the past decade. These findings are now widely disseminated through various media outlets, both popular and scientific. TED, for instance, offers an entire playlist of recent talks on “the weird science of love.”
Researchers are drawn to the study of love due to its mysterious nature, captivating our natural curiosity, especially when it pertains to our own lives. However, a prominent writer, Ron Rosenbaum, challenges the notion that love can be fully understood through scientific inquiry. In his new book, “In Defense of Love: An Argument,” Rosenbaum celebrates love as an ineffable experience, a celebration of its beauty, nuance, and ethereality. He argues that romantic love is not amenable to scientific analysis and criticizes what he calls “neuroscience imperialism,” where researchers attempt to unravel the complexities of love through brain scans and data.
Rosenbaum’s perspective diverges from others in the field, such as Helen Fisher, a biological anthropologist, renowned for her research on love and relationships. Fisher proposed in her book “Why We Love” that romantic love is not an ordinary emotion but a biologically driven survival mechanism. Rosenbaum contends that Fisher’s approach fails to capture the intricacies of human feelings, emphasizing that love cannot be reduced to a mere biological drive. While it is true that science cannot fully encapsulate the profound emotions love evokes, Fisher’s work explores the reasons behind these feelings and how they shape our experiences.
In recent years, books that delve into the science behind finding and maintaining love have become increasingly popular. From Sue Johnson’s “Love Sense” to Ty Tashiro’s “The Science of Happily Ever After,” these books provide insights grounded in scientific research. However, it is essential to exercise caution when interpreting and applying these scientific findings. Rosenbaum, however, disregards the distinction between valid research and questionable applications, condemning the entire field of love science.
Ironically, Rosenbaum overlooks the genuine demand for these types of books. Readers are seeking impartial scientific advice on love and relationships, particularly in response to antiquated gender roles and mainstream self-help literature. These science-oriented books fill a void by offering evidence-based guidance. This trend affirms the ongoing significance of romantic love and the human desire to understand and experience it fully.
While clear-cut answers remain elusive, the pursuit of love offers valuable insights and perspectives. It allows us to contemplate our place in the universe and recognize the complexities of our own biology. Relationship science provides descriptive insights rather than prescriptive answers and should be valued accordingly. Love belongs to both poets and scientists, as it encompasses the realms of both soul and body. It is a harmonious fusion of magic and hormones, spirituality, and neuroscience. As Carl Sagan eloquently stated, “Science is not only compatible with spirituality; it is a profound source of spirituality.” Although love may forever remain partially mysterious, there is still much to be learned, both about love itself and about our own humanity. Grounding love in the realm of reality is not sacrilegious but profoundly human.
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