Love

[WingsOfTheNeophyte]

I had quite a few conversations with my friends on the subject, and I noticed some of us, actually do not believe in love, myself included

I fail to see how love is anything more than the evolutionary byproduct of tribal society, in fact love and many other feelings we experience are quite well explained by evolution

Does anyone think there is any more to the feeling of love than the preservation of our genes? A feeling that exists to help us farther our kind? Is it actually something more than that? Why?

 

[WatersMoon110]

Um...so what if emotions can be explained by biology, and their effects can be seen as having evolutionary benefits?

I mean, what more are you looking for? Just because "love" is a chemical created in the brain that probably has "stuck around" in humans because it created pair-bonds that raised healthier children (who lived more often, since they had two parents to provide for them) doesn't mean it isn't enjoyable.

It also doesn't mean that it can't also have spiritual connotations for individuals (especially individuals who see the work of the Divine in evolution/the existance of life).

It just means that the feeling that we experience as "love" has an explanation for its existance. Personally, I find it far more interesting and enjoyable to understand why I am feeling what I am feeling. Maybe that is just me...

 

[Phred]

I believe in love the same way I believe in anger and any other emotion. It's real, we feel it and the reason for it in no way changes or belittles the feeling. Sure, some day we'll isolate the specific area of the brain that produces that feeling the same way we'll isolate the area of the brain that makes us feel angry. Makes it no less a real emotion. I'm sure it has evolved for a reason, to hold us together and perpetuate the species. So to say, "God is love" is asinine. God can't be an emotion.

Of course, one day we'll isolate the area of the brain that makes us feel as if God exists as well. That'll put an end to the malarkey of "I've experienced Him." and we can get on with spending time on useful pursuits.

 

[WatersMoon110]

Of course, one day we'll isolate the area of the brain that makes us feel as if God exists as well. That'll put an end to the malarkey of "I've experienced Him." and we can get on with spending time on useful pursuits.

They've done a bit of work towards this, as they've found some area of the brain that is used in praying and meditation (and probably a few other things). I think it would be cool to know exactly what happens in the brain when one is doing "religious" things.

But, like love, it wouldn't prove that religion didn't exist, just that there are biological processes that go along with it. Heck, some people would probably, eventually, take the fact that there were biological processes as proof of Creationism. *shivers*

 

[charmtrap]

Love being a biological process doesn't mean it doesn't exist. It has demonstrable real-world effects (eg. relationships, families, babies). And though it may not make life worth living, per se, it certainly livens up the proceedings.

 

[SeraphymCrashing]

How can you not believe in love? THats like not believing in cars. Oh, you mean you don't believe love is some kind of transcendant force. Well me neither, but just because love has a biological basis doesn't somehow invalidate or cheapen its emotional impact on our lives. There are powerful evolutionary reasons for love, but I still find meaning in those I choose to love.

 

[quatona]

I had quite a few conversations with my friends on the subject, and I noticed some of us, actually do not believe in love, myself included

I fail to see how love is anything more than the evolutionary byproduct of tribal society, in fact love and many other feelings we experience are quite well explained by evolution

Does anyone think there is any more to the feeling of love than the preservation of our genes? A feeling that exists to help us farther our kind? Is it actually something more than that? Why?

I don´t know. I´m just wondering why you think that being "not more than..." would somehow make it insignificant, unimportant or take away from it.
What would you want it to be so that you wouldn´t say "it´s not more than..."?

 

[WingsOfTheNeophyte]

Well growing up Christian, I was taught that love was of divine nature, and somehow something more, surrounded in mystery

And now actually learning things for myself, takes the whole mystery out of it, and leaves me disillusioned

I understand everybody's points on that the impact of it is not cheapened even though we understand it completely now, an interesting way to look at things, I have to do a bit of thinking in that direction

 

[Robbie_James_Francis]

Honestly, I don't think it matters that love (or anything else worthwhile) is a byproduct of evolution and isn't given to us especially as a sacred gift from an intelligent creator.

When we feel love, happiness etc., does it really matter that we are creating it ourselves or that it isn't deliberately given by an external being?

Even the religious, I'm sure, aren't thinking wholly of great God is when they get married, spend time with their children or socialise with good firends and family members. What's going on is a mutual creation of love and beauty.

Personally, I think the glorious reality that we are the ones in contol of these forces and not God is uplifting, not saddening in the slightest.

 

[WatersMoon110]

Well growing up Christian, I was taught that love was of divine nature, and somehow something more, surrounded in mystery

And now actually learning things for myself, takes the whole mystery out of it, and leaves me disillusioned

I understand everybody's points on that the impact of it is not cheapened even though we understand it completely now, an interesting way to look at things, I have to do a bit of thinking in that direction

I can understand being disillusioned by finding out that something you were taught was divine and unexplainable is, in fact, something that can be completely explained by science. Learning the secret behind the magic trick takes all the magic out of it, after all. But, knowing how the trick is done, I feel, is also enjoyable.

I hope that you can regain some wonder about the emotion of love, because I think it's a pretty amazing thing. Chemicals in our brain make us feel something so powerful that we would lay down our very lives for another person. I think that's pretty magical, myself. *smile*

 

[Eudaimonist]

Does anyone think there is any more to the feeling of love than the preservation of our genes? A feeling that exists to help us farther our kind? Is it actually something more than that? Why?

Love may very well be a product of evolution, however...

Love is what you make of it. Evolution doesn't give love meaning -- you do!


eudaimonia,

Mark

 

[ashleymarie1089]

i believe in love...
i love my family. friends. cats. and when i see the people i love, i feel it in my heart.
wow, that was goofy. but there's no other way i can explain it.

i haven't felt love for a person of the opposite sex though aka relationship-wise. but i'm sure that one day it'll happen.