Anti-Love Drug article in the New York Times

In the article "Anti-Love Drug May Be Ticket to Bliss," John Tierney provides a provocative alternative to the emotion of love - medicine. Recent discoveries in the fields of genetics and neuroscience support that monogamy and "love" are linked to chemical hormones in the brain. While studying autism and schizophrenia, researchers discovered that the presence or absence of certain hormones either enabled or hindered love. With this understanding, scientists can create pills to induce or even allay the emotions tied to love, Tierney said.

Although the article is well written, a portion of Tierney's writing is haphazard and somewhat inappropriate for the "Science Times," regardless of the article's column-like status. The lede catches the reader's attention, but I was unsure of whether he was talking about hormones that induce or repel love; it turns out that he lists evidence for both, but much of his support is reserved later in the article.

It's difficult to say whether the majority of readers are patient enough to read the technicalities of a discovery after the "big picture" is explained in previous paragraphs. As a solution, Tierney could have included more research methods higher in the article. After all, the piece was featured in a national paper's science section under "Findings," which sounds like a news (not opinions) section. This was also the first article the New York Times published on the topic, which, in my opinion, confused readers because it looked like a news story and wasn't accompanied by an unbiased version of the research.

Stylistically, the mentioning of Odysseus, Britney Spears and Larry King as individuals who have "love" troubles should be moved to later in the article or not featured at all. I understand why Tierney lists these celebrities, but I think the witty sayings in the first and second paragraphs accommodate most audiences. When I realized Tierney was a columnist, it slightly reduced my concerns with his usage of "infatuated ass."

On the other hand, I understand why the author used the analogy of Odysseus being "tied to the mast of a ship" because it reflects his personal opinion of love. This is also obvious in the final paragraph and the headline itself where readers are misled into thinking that scientists are busily working on an "anti-love potion." I enjoyed the article and the topic at hand, but much of the commentary skewed the motivations behind the research. Here's the take-home message: the New York Times needs to clearly define its news and opinion sections so readers do not mistake similar articles as hard news.

This is the interpretation I initially expected from the "Science Times." It would have coupled nicely with Tierney's piece.