Naked Science Forum
General Discussion & Feedback => Just Chat! => Topic started by: Karen W. on 01/07/2008 02:49:06
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I just think about it sometimes.. why we do fall in love..? Is it because we seek out something in another we don't see in our selves? Perhaps we are looking ( to coin the phrase, to complete our selves through a partner..." "You complete me" We all recognize this from the movie eh??) So I believe after years of contemplation that we do truly look for others that have qualities we don't have ourselves.. like self confidence .. ability to say no.. more outgoing personalities, or more subtle in some of our cases.
I have tons of differences with my partner and tons of similarities..
But why do we get that feeling of love so strong that we would do most anything to be with that person and to draw strength and warmth from them.. Why is that so important in human nature.. the nurturing and such that we receive from one another.......
I cannot understand where the love in my heart comes from sometimes I don't know why its there but it is. Sometimes despite my self.. I find it overpowering and amazingly always there no matter what despite, temporary upsets and things in life..
So why do we love! There is a difference in love and nurture... many times they go hand in hand but they are separate also!
Why do you think you feel love.. how do you know when you love someone?
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I'm sure this is on another thread somewhere!
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Yeah there is a love thread but this is a why thread! LOL!
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Very interesting question Karen, especially as science traditionally doesn't appear to have had much to say about the abstract nouns like love, courage, fickleness etc, though I don't know what the psychologists or the other brain people think - but hey, is psychology science? This is another topic though.
I believe that there may be a scientific basis for love as it is, after all, something that we, as biological entities, are (to varying degrees perhaps) capable of.
The philosopher Anthony Grayling points out that there certainly appears to be a state of mind (permanent/semi-permanent) where one human being regards another with a mixture of regard, affection, desire, concern, respect and even possessiveness which may or may not be reciprocated. Should it be, this blissful state may lead to cohabitation and offspring; something that has long received legitimacy throughout popular culture, in films and novels, and is encouraged by governments (in the West) as a social model for rearing children.
That said, it's possible that love is merely an evolved mechanism for getting the next generation going in a species that has infants that need childcare for many years; not typical among mammals. The initial stages, when sexual activity (taken in impossible positions in cars, at parties and even at home in bed [:0] ) is at its most frenzied and is when DNA is usually exchanged, along with a baggage of viruses and microbes that help prepare the female immune system to be able to accept the foetus with its foreign DNA. There follows a stage when this love becomes a habit as the initial infatuation is hard to sustain and our partners become more like friends and which holds a couple together through subsequent years of domestic life.
So, is that all there is? It is hard to imagine wanting to go through the minefield of parenthood without something to bind couples together and no doubt some eager researcher has a screen showing someone's brain lighting up in significant places when shown pictures of his old lady - hopefully with 'brain research' being as prevalent as it is an answer to your question will emerge. But don't hold your breath.
[:-\]
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Hee hee hee.. Why thank you for that wonderful answer... And yes I still wonder.. I think there is definitely more to it. I just don't understand it. It is a powerful feeling for sure.. no accounting for why it stays so strongly in our hearts... but I am glad that it does.I think it serves a purpose.. like keeping one sane...
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...and of course it's reversible!
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Like a straight jacket!
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Insane in a very good way!!!!! Lol.....
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I may have said this before bot "love creeps up your back and knocks your hat off."
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Yes it does!
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Well put your hat back on again, you'll catch your death.