what is love?

[misa]

I was listening to the virtue of selfishness by ayn rand and she said that some people crave love but never bother to figure out what it is and instead believe its a favor bestowed (or something).

so what is love? i haven't figured it out... what makes two people fall in love and love each other.

 

[Badjedidude]

Love is too complicated of an emotion/feeling/act/behavior to fully answer such a question as "what is it?"

 

[Rigel]

Even so, I think it's a deep question on something that affects all of us, and is due for some reflection on our part. If anything it makes people think

As unimaginative as I usually am, I'd say it's one of many darwinian misfires, but that would greatly demean it. Let's go a little deeper, into our selves, and find something more poetic

 

[Badjedidude]

Fine. You asked for it.

Love is pain. Love is joy. Love is heartbreak. Love is sex. Love is the sun breaking out on a cloudy day. Love is shivering alone in a blizzard. Love is being rescued from that same blizzard. Love is dirty. Love is rude. Love is kind. Love is cleanliness. Love is remembering. Love is forgetting. Love is knowing what to say and when to say it. Love is keeping your ******* mouth shut. Love is confrontation. Love is ignorance. Love is a drug. Love is a potion. Love is a tonic. Love is a medicine. Love is a drag on a cigarette. Love is staying up late, talking to the one who is most important to you. Love is listening. Love is being listened to. Love is...

...it's every goddamn adjective, metaphor, and analogy in the book.

Is that a bit more in-depth?

 

[misa]

...it's every goddamn adjective, metaphor, and analogy in the book.

Is that a bit more in-depth?

that was more like poetry. i think love songs and love poems exist because explaining what love is in a sentence eludes people.

I think i would describe love as something that makes you *feel* love, ie want to express love/give love. Instead of just being on the receiving end...

Normally people don't go through life feeling love or wanting to dish it out. When you do feel it its giddy and ridiculous and called being "in love." It causes you to be less self-oriented and thoughtful to someone else. In actuality it is still selfish; you love them because of how they make you feel.

And after falling "out" of love, if two people remain together i think that they show love/or love each other by continuing to be thoughtful towards the other even though they are not still *in* love.

i would appreciate input from people who've been there.

 

[Naleena]

There are different types of love. I am thinking you mean romantic love. Love for me is wanting to be with someone when they are at their worst as well as at their best. Its looking at someone and seeing their possibilities and recognizing that they aren't perfect and loving them for all their imperfections and their possibilities. It's nurturing that person and accepting them as they are and encouraging them to be a better person. It's empathy. It's growing together. It's growing seperately. There is no longer a "you" or "I" ...it becomes "us." And whatever you do, you do for "us." Yeah....love is "us."

 

[ThatOneDude]

IMO, not worth it.

 

[Badjedidude]

Personally, from my experience, love is so many things and it has so many forms that it's difficult to explain or describe... or even recognize. This is why so many people have trouble understanding if they're actually IN LOVE or not.

If you have no idea what "in love" is, then how are you supposed to know when you are "in love?"

Furthermore, there are different stages of love for a continuing romantic relationship... it's really hard to tell what's what.

I try not to worry about the "L" word so much.

It's a lot easier to just be who you are and be with who you want to be with and not worry about what to call it.

*shrug*

 

[LGH1288]

(Lovingly Snipped)

There are different types of love.

"Hospice Nurses Care With Love"

 

[misa]

Personally, from my experience, love is so many things and it has so many forms that it's difficult to explain or describe... or even recognize. This is why so many people have trouble understanding if they're actually IN LOVE or not.

If you have no idea what "in love" is, then how are you supposed to know when you are "in love?"

sometimes you don't know until its too late.

for me its really hard to admit that i'm jealous or envious and that's one of the clearest signs. if someone says i "like" someone i feel like i have to deny it like i'm in the fourth grade or something.

I try not to worry about the "L" word so much.

It's a lot easier to just be who you are and be with who you want to be with and not worry about what to call it.

nicely put

 

[Teenage Dream]

To me.... it's always feeling like you want to be with them. ALWAYS. No matter what you're going through...

 

[Sally's Song]

Love is knowing that, through good or bad or ugly, you'll always care.

 

[AncientBard]

The only thing that ever came close to giving me any understanding of the love question was the song "How" by John Lennon, enjoy.

[video=youtube]

 

[ThatOneDude]

"Definition: 'Love' is making a shot to the knees of a target 120 kilometers away using an Aratech sniper rifle with a tri-light scope. Statement: This definition, I am told, is subject to interpretation. Obviously, love is a matter of odds. Not many meatbags could make such a shot, and fewer would derive love from it. Yet for me, love is knowing your target, putting them in your targeting reticle, and together, achieving a singular purpose, against statistically long odds."
―HK-47 describes his views on love

 

[Sally's Song]

"Definition: 'Love' is making a shot to the knees of a target 120 kilometers away using an Aratech sniper rifle with a tri-light scope. Statement: This definition, I am told, is subject to interpretation. Obviously, love is a matter of odds. Not many meatbags could make such a shot, and fewer would derive love from it. Yet for me, love is knowing your target, putting them in your targeting reticle, and together, achieving a singular purpose, against statistically long odds."
―HK-47 describes his views on love

I feel like your definition is just mine more loosely translated.

 

[Limlim]

Love is when the ventral tegmental area and the caudate nucleus of your brain become filled with a chemical called dopamine, which creates creates feelings of energy, exhilaration, focused attention and the motivation to win rewards.

Drugs like cocaine and other amphetamines can indirectly cause the generation of dopamine in those areas, which is why they can be so addictive to their users. Although the dopamine from those drugs spreads to other areas as well, like the ones which control sociability. Too much dopamine being generated can lead to bipolar disorder, hypersocialibility and hypersexuality. While conversely people lacking a sufficient quantity of this love chemical are prone to social withdrawal, apathy, and anhedonia. Extreme cases of near minimal levels can be a cause of schizophrenia, though there is generally a safe minimum even the most love starved individual has which avoids the latter.

Next question!