Rationally speaking is a presentation of New York City skeptics dedicated to promoting critical thinking, skeptical inquiry, and science education.

For more information, please visit us at NYCCEceptics.org.

Welcome to Rationally Speaking, the podcast where we explore the borderlands between reason and

nonsense. I am your host, Massimo Piliucci, and with me as always is my co-host, Julia Galev.

Julia, what are we talking about today?

Well, Massimo, this episode will be airing the week of Valentine's Day, so our topic is

the skeptics' guide to Love. When people talk

about what love is, they often talk about it in metaphysical terms, like it's some sort of

immaterial essence that's either present or absent, like the soul. And the implication is that,

like other metaphysical things, it's outside the domain of science. Of course, as good skeptics, we know that when

we're faced for the mysterious and unexplained phenomenon, we look for explanations.

So today we're asking, is it even possible to understand what love is through science or through

philosophy? And even if we can understand it, do we want to?

Well, good question, right?

So there clearly is a lot of science that is pertinent to love.

I think the really good question is whether the science is telling us all we want to know about love.

But it certainly tells us something.

Well, let me give you an example of the kind of metaphysical talk that I'm referring to. There was a Time

magazine cover story a few years back about the science behind love, and they go through all these

scientific explanations of love, and then at the end of the story, they conclude by saying,

romance may be nothing more than reproductive filigree, a bit of decoration that makes us want to

perpetuate the species and ensures that we do it right.

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