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Thanatos10
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Love
#22240467 - 09/15/15 09:41 AM (8 years, 4 months ago) |
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Is it really just a chemical reaction in the brain or is it something more? Why do we claim it to be selfless and why do we seek it so avidly? Is it because the initial reaction is so strong that we hook ourselves to the person like an IV hoping for more of the same reaction later on in life? When people talk about the transcending power of love are they referring to that feel good response that most people in love feel during the first few months?
To me it seems like a concept that gets thrown around a lot without any real idea of what it is like, and we chase it like drug addicts looking for another fix. Although I could be wrong on this.
-------------------- As lightless oblivion devours you, drown in the ever-blooming darkness.
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OrgoneConclusion
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My recent nervous breakdown points towards it being a purely chemical reaction. It goes back to our avian brain. And yes, the bonding was so strong I would have sacrificed myself.
In olden days, humans did not have the time and energy luxury of going on hundreds of dates and taking 5-25 years trying to find the "perfect" mate, so if it was close enough, dopamine and other chemicals would make a huge imprint on your psyche and bond you together.
In my recent episode, my brain dumped too much dopamine and wouldn't stop, leading to obsession as it was the best feeling I ever had times 100. That is some powerful shit. Even bought into the whole twin flame thingie for a while as the event was so cosmic and other-worldy. At the end of the day, it was just drugs.
http://www.shroomery.org/forums/showflat.php/Number/22070166#22070166
Even knowing the mechanism, I would still marry this woman who I only spent 8 hours with (and no sex!) Such is the nature of biochemistry.
Love hurts!
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DividedQuantum
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I think that's a pretty perceptive post, and you ask some very good questions. Love in the conventional sense is a drug that our nervous systems put us on in certain social situations. As such, it has a tendency to wear off at the most inopportune times.
...there's nothin' cold as ashes After the fire is gone --Loretta Lynn
When you've seen love go as internally haywire as I have -- and as OC has -- you do realize it's more or less just a mechanism designed for a certain purpose.
The real question is whether any of that matters.
-------------------- Vi Veri Universum Vivus Vici
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OrgoneConclusion
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In my research on my episode, I found out that one can literally die from a broken heart - through suicide and also physical heart damage; so not a myth or mere hyperbole.
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DividedQuantum
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interesting
-------------------- Vi Veri Universum Vivus Vici
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OrgoneConclusion
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Thanatos10
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I guess it takes the mystical aspect out of love really, which sort of dulls the charm. I get that the feeling is so powerful that "meant to be" feels like the only way to describe it. But that's really the chemicals talking. The question though is if it is meant for breeding, how does that explain homosexuality?
-------------------- As lightless oblivion devours you, drown in the ever-blooming darkness.
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DividedQuantum
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The way I think of homosexuality is rather straightforward. One's brain must have an object of desire, something it's seeking and that stimulates it. Well, for heterosexuals, that's a member of the opposite sex. For homosexuals, a different object is imprinted early in youth, for whatever reason -- someone of the same sex. It's just a different way for the brain to wire itself, and a certain segment of the population is and has always been homosexual. Same sexual circuit; different object of desire through alternate neuro-wiring. I have read that around two percent of the population identifies as gay or lesbian, and also that this number, over time, has been relatively stable. It's simply a biological phenomenon.
Moreover, with advances in genetic engineering, the time is upon us when gay couples can have same-sex biological offspring.
-------------------- Vi Veri Universum Vivus Vici
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OrgoneConclusion
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No link, but I read the other day that women choose mates partially by smell. No, not Old Spice or Axxe. It is believed that they can subconsciously gather a lot of information on a man's genetics by odor - no joke.
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Thanatos10
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Seems like homosexuality is the exception rather than the rule. Even I have to contemplate why I am so attracted to guys when we cannot reproduce with each other.
But I guess that's why love is irrational as well. It's a chemical that affects your way of thinking.
-------------------- As lightless oblivion devours you, drown in the ever-blooming darkness.
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cez

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I think it's more than a chemical reaction. A person with suicidal thoughts may never act on those thoughts simply because of all the people in their life that will be hurt by such an act. There's no feel goodness in their life, but they continue to live for the sake of others.
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Jokeshopbeard
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Quote:
DividedQuantum said: The real question is whether any of that matters.
Yes. What is it that causes [some] people to bond for life? I think it's more than love, but don't yet know what the magic ingredients are!!
-------------------- Let it be seen that you are nothing. And in knowing that you are nothing... there is nothing to lose, there is nothing to gain. What can happen to you? Something can happen to the body, but it will either heal or it won't. What's the big deal? Let life knock you to bits. Let life take you apart. Let life destroy you. It will only destroy what you are not. --Jac O'keeffe
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Thanatos10
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Quote:
Jokeshopbeard said:
Quote:
DividedQuantum said: The real question is whether any of that matters.
Yes. What is it that causes [some] people to bond for life? I think it's more than love, but don't yet know what the magic ingredients are!!
There are actually chemicals that come into play after the lust phase, which then leads to attachment which is the so called bonding phase. I believe oxytocin is one of those chemicals.
As for suicide, I'm pretty sure there are plenty who do go through with it despite the presence of people in their lives. Also I would say that is based on some sort of psychological reward system. In this case it's to avoid a negative punishment, even though logically it doesn't make much sense to take that into account.
-------------------- As lightless oblivion devours you, drown in the ever-blooming darkness.
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cez

Registered: 08/04/09
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You're making assumptions to satisfy your belief system on this topic. I don't think love can be grasped logically. I think there's levels to it that can be understood through logic just like there's levels with everything else in life, but I think it's more complex than some of us like to admit.
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mwhtmn
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Re: Love [Re: cez]
#22241189 - 09/15/15 12:32 PM (8 years, 4 months ago) |
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Word. Feeling. Concept.
And oh so much more!
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Kuhl
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Re: Love [Re: mwhtmn] 1
#22241444 - 09/15/15 01:36 PM (8 years, 4 months ago) |
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music, dancing, and the art of love
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Thanatos10
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Re: Love [Re: mwhtmn] 1
#22241450 - 09/15/15 01:38 PM (8 years, 4 months ago) |
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I don't think it's that complicated. I just think that the initial reaction when people fall in love is so intense and glamorous that people overstate its virtues. Yes it is a feeling and feelings can't really be described which is why logic fails to. It's also why we ignore faults and flaws in the other person in the beginning.
I think much of the glory people place on love is based on the initial explosive beginning of it.
-------------------- As lightless oblivion devours you, drown in the ever-blooming darkness.
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Jokeshopbeard
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Quote:
Thanatos10 said: I think much of the glory people place on love is based on the initial explosive beginning of it.
You talk as though there are not couples in this world who experience very deep and lasting love for one another, even to the ends of their lives. Granted, this is not something that is overly encouraged or advertised by our culture (IMO it pays lip service to the concept, but little more), but this is something that I don't think anyone can deny does exist.
-------------------- Let it be seen that you are nothing. And in knowing that you are nothing... there is nothing to lose, there is nothing to gain. What can happen to you? Something can happen to the body, but it will either heal or it won't. What's the big deal? Let life knock you to bits. Let life take you apart. Let life destroy you. It will only destroy what you are not. --Jac O'keeffe
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OrgoneConclusion
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My grandparents divorced after 52 years of marriage. True story! Guess it wasn't true love.
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Thanatos10
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That last aspect is called attachment. It's part of the process of love.
As for true love, I'm not even sure what that's supposed to mean really.
-------------------- As lightless oblivion devours you, drown in the ever-blooming darkness.
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