Scientists can too be romantic

[liv]

I'm disproportionately annoyed by this rather tawdry attempt by the Guardian to be Buzzfeed. I mean, yes, it's lazy, crappy journalism (and not even funny; check out #AcademicValentines for some much better examples of this sort of humour), but it's also perpetuating really annoying stereotypes of scientists.

Seriously, knowing that the heart is about blood and muscle and how its rhythm is affected by hormones doesn't stop you from experiencing skooshy feelings about people. And knowledge isn't less romantic than ignorance; understanding the complex, beautiful machine that is the human heart and its integration with the rest of the body can inspire strong emotions just as much as treating the heart as a love-generating magic item. Scientists aren't cynical, uncaring people just because we study the physical reality of how the world works.

This is a real Valentine for scientists! And this is a real love letter from a scientist who gets it:

I am not a poet.
I am a scientist,
and there is nothing a scientist loves more
than the the pursuit
of discovery.

This here scientist is very fond of all my readers. And I wish you all lots of love, whatever form that takes, traditionally romantic or not.

Comments

[jack]

I think my idea of a scientist valentine is that if someone says they want to spend the rest of their life with you, you know they're sufficiently pedantic they mean it :) xxxx But that's not as creative as some of the others :)

[liv]

Yes, that works too. I find it extremely romantic pursuing new knowledge and elevating humanity, but I also find it extremely romantic when we plan for practical and not necessarily pleasant contingencies. Yay pedantry!

#AcademicValentines is

[jjhunter]

Dr Paul Coxon ‏@paulcoxon Feb 13

Roses are red
Violets are...

[To gain full access to poem content please sign in via your Athens or Shibboleth account]

AMAZING

Re: #AcademicValentines is

[liv]

Aren't they just? Not every single tweet is perfect but there are so many that are just the loveliest sort of insider humour, whereas the Grauniad is basically just laughing at scientists in a mean way.

Re: #AcademicValentines is

[ceb]

*laughing helplessly*

[karlht]

This here scientist is very fond of all my readers. And I wish you all lots of love, whatever form that takes, traditionally romantic or not.

Thanks; many good wishes for joy and fellowship to you and yours, as well. I'm very glad to be reading you.

0_o

[ysabetwordsmith]

I am a poet. I am a scientist. I am a worker of magic. To me these things are all different facets of appreciating the world, like the facets of a crystal. Science and spirituality, science and magic, science and romance -- these things do not conflict for me. They touch along the edges. The reflect and refract each other. To know a thing is to love it. To discover more about it is to learn how to love it better.

I have never understood people who stop loving something once they know how it works. Microscopic ice crystals are as magical as an unexplained rainbow any day.

Pheromones? I'm weaving them into my latest science fiction project, which involves living technology that can form relationships with humans. Not just because of the science, but because of the romance, the sense of wonder, the joy of sharing the universe. The science makes it solid; the romance makes it beautiful. And if I do my job right, those two things go like peanut butter and chocolate.