Episode 176 - Selection Strategies, Teleportation, and Libido During Grief

This week is a Patron special--every question was submitted by the Ask Science Mike Patreon community. If you'd like to join us, click here.

Here's the questions from this week's show, plus additional resources.

You've expressed belief in a God that is the ground of all being, Einstein's God, a reductionist left-hemisphere God. You've also expressed belief in a God of mysticism and subjective experience, a God of feeling and intuition, a holistic right-hemisphere God. Do you ever feel the need to bridge the gap between these two Gods? Can you say they are the same, or do we need a God for each cerebral hemisphere?

Finding God in the Waves

Hey Mike, I have a question for you. I'd love to know if there is a physiological link between grief and an increased sex drive? I can see that sex can be a temporary escape from pain, or a release of tension. And that the loneliness of grief could prompt a desire to connect physically with someone else. But is there anything science can shed light on, to further explain an increased sex drive at times of significant pain and loss, and whether its a coping mechanism or a way of the body seeking to heal? It seems incongruous in part. Asking for a friend...! Huge love to you. Come back to London soon X

5 Things They Don't Tell You About Grief

Can you talk about quantum teleportation? What has been demonstrated and what is theoretical sci-fi?

Quantum teleportation is real, but it's not what you think

How do you interact with friends or family members who are conservative fundamentalists and lovingly concerned that you are "sinning" by reading the Bible differently than they do? It's frustrating when they continue to want to discuss hot-button topics like homosexuality—never as a method of understanding my perspective, but instead with the purpose of changing my mind and helping me understand the "truth.”

Hi Mike! I asked this one a couple Thanksgivings ago when you answered all the patreon questions, but it was never on the show—perhaps it got lost in the patreon comment vortex. I'm curious how you, as a married enneagram 9, maintain your own identity? I'm 43, and have never been able to have a romantic relationship in which I didn't lose myself (I'm an introverted 9w1 sexual variant) (neutral good, haha), so I've shied away from them to maintain a sense of self. It seems to me like I might like to have a long-term partnership or marriage someday, so I'm curious what steps you take to keep your identity separate from Jenny & the girls. I've been in talk therapy, done programs, attended seminars, etc—but I tend to keep all interpersonal relationships at arm's length because I feel chaotic and like I can't find myself in the noisy din of other people's presence. Any advice from your experience would be appreciated. Peace, love, and entropy!

Why don't organisms with the shortest reproductive cycles rule the world? It seems to me that simple organisms with rapid reproduction should evolve more quickly than more complex organisms with longer lifespans. If that's the case, shouldn't those species have a wider range of adaptations to "select" from for suitability to their environments, giving them a serious evolutionary advantage over those of us that don't breed like rabbits? In other words, why isn't mosquitoes' ability to dodge evolving faster than my ability to swat them? (Sorry if this is Natural Selection 101 - my "Christian" education sadly excluded that course from its science curriculum).