Well I can think of one thing that science has no explanation for.......
Love, it goes against all logic. Can anyone out there think of other things that science just has no explanation for? Can't wait to hear your thoughts!

love does have a simple scientific explanation- it is part of the human need for interaction, comfort, and propagation of the species.

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You got it. Then there's "romantic love", which was invented during the age of chivalry.

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Love is a perfectly cromulent area for scientific study. It is just as amenable to scientific investigation as any other area of human behaviour. As for going against all logic, I dare say a lot of people owe their existence to it.

Well, in my experience I wouldn't say there is anything simple about it, and please tell me the scientific thing that make people act in such a (how shall I say this?) STUPID way and the lengths that some people will go to. Yes, humans do need interaction with people. But to say that there is a simple scientific explanation......I wonder!


And Chivarly.......that is almost to the point of extinction! You know with all the women's lib nonsence that has gone on for the past few decades, men in today's generation might not now how to act. Some of you real men could teach some of these younger fellas a thing or two. If I had to rely on the two most influential men in my son's life to teach him anything about that....He would not learn anything! But I'm proud to say that when I am with my son he gladly opens up a door for me or anyone else he may see. So I guess chivalry will not be extinct if we teach it to the next generation.

I disagree.

I believe science can explain love and everything else.

We just currently lack the mathematics to express or predict these values.

Deterministically speaking, love is describable with the chemical and electrical reactions that occur within the brain coupled with the evolutionary process of trial and error.
Human Nature is illogical, but based on a series of reactions and consequences. I do believe we can make sense of these to a limited extent.
Then again...
Personally, although I want to know everything...

There are some things in which I value the mystery. This would be one of them

Among others would be "Awe"- that amazing inspiration in seeing something wonderful for the first time.

Is there more to existence than the observable universe?

The grand question of "why?"

In other threads, time and gravity have both been discussed as mysterious.

Eh... this thread could turn into a very long list- I look forward to seeing where it goes.

"This concept of "wuv" confuses and infuriates us!"

Thank you Mr. Brak thank you to your post I have learned the meaning to two new words, cromulent and amenable. I hate to read something and not know what it means.


Neverfly,

I'm not suprised that you disagree. I'm glad that you value the mystery in it. But the chemical and electrical reaction that occurs with in the brain....I would use another word for that, lust maybe....but love? Come on now, if that was the definition for love everyone would be in a relationship based on the chemical reaction that happened in their brain at the time? On my wedding day these were some of the phrases used to describe love....they may sound familiar patient, kind, never jealous or envious, never boastful or proud, never haughty or selfish or rude. Love does not demand it's own way. It is not irritable or touchy. It does not hold grudges and will hardly even notice when others do it wrong. Love is never glad about injustice, but is glad when truth gives out. If you love someone you will be loyal to them no matter what the cost. You will always believe in them, expect the best of them, and always stand your ground defending them.......
Well, I'll be the first one to say that I have failed in every one of those areas with the people that I love at one time or another.
Example: Two days ago my father came to plow my yard out. When I started shoveling the steps my 60 year old neighbor was out there flirting like a teenager with him saying what a crock global warming was (due to the four and a half feet of snow we have recieved. Well, to make a long story short...he got stuck and I headed over with my shovel to help him. With his
1st Seargent voice he abruptly "ordered" me to go clean my car off. I muttered under my breath as I walked away. I said it was sad my father is nicer to a stranger than his own flesh and blood. He's hard of hearing from all those years of working on helicopter. When I paid him he asked what was wrong. I told him he hurt my feelings because he was rude to me in front of the neighbor. He then explained he did not need my help getting unstuck (but he did time before last} he said he needed my car cleared off before he could plow. I told him at that point he wouldn't be able to plow if he was stuck. Well, we have not spoken since then. Now see I love my father but there are times that I am irritable and touchy with him because he never forgets anything I've done wrong. And dumb me I love my husband but why did I fall for a guy just like my dad?
Like I said to say that it is "simple" to explain is a real stretch.

Here's another thought.....they say there is a fine line between love and hate how do you explain that? I've been at that point too. Goes to show you that everyone's perceptions may be different from the personal experiences they have had. I'm also interested to see where this will go, I'm sure people have had very different experiences.....and that definately has an impact on a persons thoughts about a subject!

Now you know why we fall in love with BAUT


Not at all.

You are trying to differentiate between the natural and the emotional as if there was somehow a spiritual element involved.
That is an assumption on your part.

The same regulators within the brain that govern how we think, feel and express ourselves are at work- whether it be a lustful momentary thought- or a deep emotional connection.

For many it is- and that is one of the many reasons why the divorce rate is over 50% these days. People fall out of it as that initial reaction fades.
You are treating 'love' as if it was something existing outside of yourself.
That is not the case.
Everything you just listed is a personal choice. A decision.
Psychological conditioning and the chemical and electrical composition of your brain may have something to do with this.

If you dated ten men- and all broke your heart- lied and cheated... At the eleventh date- you would be wary, cautious and untrusting of your date.
Love isn't in existence outside of your mind. It can only exist within it- and by the choices that you make.

This is why learning and building wisdom is such an important thing.
People are often taught to trust in the divine or to trust in an emotion as if it was a separate entity from themselves. It is not, however. And in trying to trust in which that the does not exist outside of yourself- you can ultimately doom yourself to failure.
Psychology?
Reach out to UNDERSTAND others... and perhaps then you may understand yourself.
An emotion- any emotion- has levels of degree.

It is the passion which drives us.

Consider Mary Shelley's Frankenstein.

Was it love or hate that inspired Frankenstein to pursue the monster to the ends of the Earth?

The distinction between the two is defined by the passion of that which you are feeling.
Frankenstein would have pursued his love across the world- and that same passion would drive him to pursue the one he hated as well.
In each case - that one is always on your mind.

Through-out the entire thing comes one concept- Personal Responsibility.

Should I "fall in love and get married" I will need to understand and accept certain things.
That it is my choice and decision to do so.
That there is no person on this Earth can make it for me- I alone can do that.
Loving a person is not magic nor divine- simply a choice. It means that I am choosing to overlook their faults- to accept them for the qualities that inspired the emotion to begin with.

A natural outgrowth of social interaction. Something's got to keep people together in the lean times, when competition for food and water would normally drive individuals apart. Not to mention family bonds which prevent us from throttling our children during the Terrible Twos and Even More Terrible Teens. Keeps the male around (sometimes) long enough to raise the kid. A biochemical response to stimuli that makes us feel good, which we then associate with the person or object which reminds us of that feeling.

African Elephants can demostrate familial love, as can some higher primates, so it's not unique to us either.

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Many animals do including lower life forms like invertebrates and sea creatures. Penguins and wolves choose Life-Mates and although infidelity sometimes occurs- they have much better standing averages than us humans do! Whales choose mates too. Dolphins tend to show a lot of love and affection with eachother but don't show committed relationships as much. They, like Buffalo, ranked pretty high on the percentage that were homosexual as well.

It's a good thing you added the "sometimes" because I can interpret it that way into a way that you obviously didn't mean it at all.

That whole statement is an utter stereotype. Many single mothers are left with children but are lousy mothers anyway. But people stereotypically herald them as the 'good guy' or 'hero' because they put on the face of 'look at me - single and struggling'

Secondly, a woman is much more likely to initiate break up or divorce.

Thirdly, many women tend to take the kids on matter of principle- and refuse to let the father see them purely out of spite.

There was a thread about this a while back too.

There are a lot of parents out there lacking parental commitment- male or female.

what is this "wuv" of which you speak? surely, you mean love? you must have mis spelled..





that, right there, is my favorite Futurama moment...

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"Oh, my... yeess..."

"Love is nothing but a pleasurable state, joy, accompanied by the idea of an external cause." - Spinoza.

Perfectly suitable for scientific inquiry.

On the main page, the title is reduced to "Something science has no..."
I guessed the other words exactly!

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Dan Haylen upchucked in zero gravity." -Brent Simon, The Space Camp Song

Love clearly has an evolutionary advantage in reproduction. Therefore, while the mechanism may not be fully understood... Yet.

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There must be a more appropriate place to look for such "things" than on a science board...why look for those "things" here??