Dear Dr. Date,
I am a straight single guy here at the University, and I’ve been single for about three years now. My problem is that my scientific ideas interfere with my urge to date.
My impression of dating is that it is nothing more than a pretense for sex. Not that there is anything wrong with sex or sexual desires, but I have a belief that love and relationships are nothing more than wrappers to our basic instinct to pass on our own genes. In addition, with all the overpopulation in the world, I get disgusted when I see so many people having children after marriage. There have been many times where I have been in an opportunity to ask out a girl I like, but my rational mind discourages this. Am I destined to stay single for the rest of my life?
— Scientific American

You will only stay single if you want to stay single. No one should tell you to partner up for life and add more sorrow and joy to this mixed up crazy world. Or, if they do, you can just tell them to bug off. To me, the dating advice columnist, dating is merely a chance for you to expand your mind and personality. It has little to do with marriage. It has little to do with sex. Dating gives you the chance to meet someone new, someone different. Exchanging ideas and values allows you to find out more about yourself and who you are in relation to the rest of the world.
Imagine yourself as a traveler or an explorer. You are a free spirit, captivated only by your desire to learn more about human nature — the suffering, the ecstasy. Each date is a wonderful new land you’ve never experienced before. As an explorer, you don’t plan on settling down in each new land, but you’d like to stay long enough to learn about it and understand it. The trick is, my friend, not to do what too many imperialistic explorers have done in the history of this world: fuck it up. Don’t go into a land intending to claim it for anyone else. Don’t make false promises. Don’t lie about who you are and what you are doing. Don’t take only what you desire from the land and then leave it to clean up the mess.
Someday, in the course of your travels, you will find a person that fits you just right. At that point you can wrestle with the notion of marriage. For now, skip it and be honest about it. As for sex, you can have it if you and your date want to, but don’t obsess. Again, the important rule is to be honest. If what you want is a one or two night stand in a North Shore hideaway, then say so. If you want to run off to Canada for a month, say so. If you want to dissect lab rats …