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Love Under a Microscope
It has been my impression for many years that we are creatures of evolution — as far as Mother Nature is concerned, whatever works wins [Feb. 4]. Obviously, heterosexuality has won out. The sexual attractiveness of women to men and vice versa is genetic, as modified by the environment. Although many marriages are initially based on sex, the success of a good marriage relies on the ability of two people to get along. That demands a democracy in which both accept each other as equals and help each other in a loving, kind way. They do not take advantage of their mate's psychological weaknesses and they revel in each other's company.
David Hertz, M.D.,

Tarzana, Calif., U.S.

Love and romance have to do with matters of the spirit, not science. The obsession with measuring things that are immeasurable is science's Achilles' heel. Leave the mystery of love to those who know something about it: the artists.
Peter J. Vogel,
Columbus, Ohio, U.S.

All but one of the articles treated humans as no more than breeding animals. Humans differ from the other animals because we have been given the gifts of reason and free will. In your attempts to bring to your readers knowledge of the human condition, you labored under a curse. As William Faulkner might have put it, you wrote not of the heart but of the glands.
Roger Bonilla,

Sunnyvale, Calif., U.S.

Re John Cloud's "Are Gay Relationships Different?" [Feb. 4]: Comparing gay and straight relationships is like comparing apples and oranges simply because straight couples are formed by people who have been exposed to religious, social, familial, legal and cultural promotion of and support for such unions. Gay couples don't get any such reinforcement. In fact, they get the opposite, to the point of being attacked and demonized.
Zeke Sutherland,
Tampa, Fla., U.S.

My wife of five years and I lived together for a decade before we decided to get married. Of course, prior to our decision, we assumed that our relationship was well established and that marriage wouldn't make much of a difference in the life together that we'd come to know over the previous 10 years. How wrong we were! Marriage made our relationship grow in ways we hadn't envisioned, and it brought fulfillment and security I didn't know had been missing. For us, there was a profound difference between living together as partners with an uncertain future and being husband and wife. I wonder if Cloud and his partner might still be together, as happy as my wife and I are, if they had been allowed the same freedom to marry.
John Martin,
San Diego

Educating Afghan Girls
As a teenager, I was deeply moved by 12-year-old Lida Ahmadyar's resolve to be a doctor [Jan. 28]. I am distressed that children in the developed world seem to take school for granted and those being led astray show little interest in studying. While we spend our time sporting our latest gadgets, perhaps we should think about children like Lida in other regions of the world.
Jackie Lai Yan-ki,
Hong Kong