November 13, 2007

...as they do on an annual basis, the folks at edge.org asked a whole slew of scientists a question. That year, the question was "What do you believe is true even though you cannot prove it?" Here's what David Buss, psychologist, professor at the University of Austin, Texas, and author of The Evolution of Desire had to say:

True love.

I've spent two decades of my professional life studying human mating. In that time, I've documented phenomena ranging from what men and women desire in a mate to the most diabolical forms of sexual treachery. I've discovered the astonishingly creative ways in which men and women manipulate each other. I've studied mate poachers, obsessed stalkers, sexual predators, and spouse murderers. But throughout the exploration of the dark dimensions of human mating, I've remained unwavering in my belief in true love.

While love is common, true love is rare, and I believe that few people are fortunate enough to experience it. The roads of regular love are well traveled and their markers are well understood by many--the mesmerizing attraction, the ideational obsession, the sexual afterglow, the profound self-sacrifice, and the desire to combine DNA. But true love takes its own course through uncharted territory. It knows no fences, has no barriers or boundaries. It's difficult to define, eludes modern measurement, and seems scientifically woolly. But I know true love exists. I just can't prove it.

That's either cause for hope, or the most depressing thing I've ever read.