E350: Are women delusional,humble, or just right about how hot they are? What is “the Magic 10%”? Listener wants to know why she fantasizes about women while with boyfriend, Listener is puzzled by choices of family member with aggressive cancer

Evolutionary psychologist, Doug Lisle, PhD discusses listener questions with host, Nathan Gershfeld.  In today's show, we discuss a recent survey reported by survey artist, @Aella_Girl (on X).  This survey reveals some interesting deductions about human mating difficulties in finding our “Magic 10%”. Dr. Lisle explains what the term “Magic 10%” means, and we then go over 2 listener questions – the first is whether sexuality is learned or conditioned, specifically bisexual fantasies, and then our last question is about a family member whose recent cancer diagnosis has caused them to act in a puzzling way. 

0:00 Teaser Clips & Intro

2:05 Aella_Girl has conducted a survey with very interesting results

15:32 Attractiveness rating 2D vs 3D

22:32 Innate delusion makes it hard to find a mate, but when you do it feels amazing

28:05 What is “the Magic 10%”?

41:05 Identifying as a heterosexual woman but still being aroused by women

I identify as heterosexual but I find myself to be more sexually aroused by women’s bodies than men’s, even though I only date men in a romantic setting. Even when I’m with my boyfriend, I have to fantasize about naked women in order to orgasm, but I could not imagine courting or being courted by a woman. Am I so attracted to the female body because as a society we have been conditioned to view the female body as a sexual object regardless of our sexual orientation? Ever since I was a child, all I saw on tv was sexy females in movies advertisements, etc. Could this have affected my sexual orientation, like if I was born straight, could media influence have skewed me a bit toward homosexuality? I know it is common especially for women to be aroused by both sexes. Or am I just a closeted bisexual?

51:33 Family member with aggressive cancer making rash decisions

My family member was recently diagnosed with an aggressive cancer and has less than 6 months to live. She is young (in her 30s) but appears to have made peace with this reality and is happier than I have ever seen her. She wants to continue to live her life normally, but in the last few weeks she has made some rash decisions (like ending the relationship she was in, her boyfriend was planning to propose and was left extremely confused).  I am very shocked by her reaction and her peace with everything, as I am struggling. Many other family members and her close friends feel the same way. We want to be more present in her life but she insists on keeping us at a distance and continuing to live just as she did before. How can I change my perspective and also make p