I’m Best When Loving
Dear [Mentat],
You’re right. We humans are much more than automatons instinctively executing pre-determined genetic programs. We have much freedom of choice. Not everyone needs a relationship to achieve high productivity and happiness. Certainly, other forms of human contact go long ways toward mitigating the need for love partners. Even sex itself can be offered up by a friend who we do not love, to effectively defer (if not quench) the love lust. That is, it can in some people. But not me.
To be blunt, I don’t care so much about how other people work in this regard, though I must admit to feeling validated because so many want relationships like me. Yet even if no one else did, I believe I’d still want one. The desire may be genetic. It may be cultural. Evidence suggests that it’s both, with a strong leaning toward culture. Some folks work best with a love partner, and some without. But I don’t care.
I only can tell you of my individual construction and how I’ve been shaped by our culture, and the choices I’ve made as a result. To sum it up, there’s hardship in any pursuit. Pros and cons. My own history suggests that I work more effectively with a love in my life, and I’m willing to shoulder whatever cons that love pursuit has. This is not true of everybody, but it is for me. Since every pursuit has cons, I’ll have to deal with cons no matter which pursuit I choose. So, if I’m gong to have to experience hardship no matter what, I’d rather experience it while questing for love relationships. For me, it’s the only pursuit that makes enduring the hardships worthwhile. Not even Ellis could talk me out of it, and I’d surely doubt his competence as a therapist if he tried. 
