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Love

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Everyday life

   Part of a series on Love
         Historically
   Courtly love
   Religious love
      Grades of Emotion
   Erotic love
   Platonic love
   Familial love
   Puppy love
   Romantic love
   True love
           See Also
   Unrequited love
   Celibacy
   Sexuality
   Asexuality
   Sex
   Valentine's Day
   edit

   Love is a basic dimension of human experience that is variously
   conveyed as a sense of tender affection, an intense attraction, the
   foundation of intimacy and good interpersonal chemistry, willing
   self-sacrifice on behalf of another, and as an ineffable sense of
   affinity or connection to nature, other living beings, or even that
   which is unseen. It manifests itself in feelings, emotion, behaviour,
   thoughts, perception and attitude. It influences, underlies and defines
   major patterns in interpersonal relationships and self-identification.

   The diverse range of meanings associated with the English word
   contrasts with the plurality of Greek words for love, reflecting the
   depth, versatility, and complexity of the concept. This diversity of
   meanings is reflected in the many distinct classifications of love
   including romantic love; sexual desire; platonic love; religious love;
   familial love; true love; and the more casual application of the term
   to anything pleasurable, enjoyable, desirable, or preferred, including
   activities and favorite foods.

Overview

   The concept of love is not amenable to one authoritative definition. It
   is the subject of considerable debate, enduring speculation, and
   thoughtful introspection. As an approximation, different aspects of
   love can be illustrated by comparing its corollaries and opposites. As
   a general expression of positive sentiment (a stronger form of like),
   love is commonly contrasted with hate (or neutral apathy); as a less
   self-centered and more "mutual" sign of intense desire, love is
   commonly contrasted with lust; and as an interpersonal relationship
   with romantic overtones, love is commonly contrasted with friendship,
   although other connotations of love may be applied to close friendships
   as well.
   The traditional Chinese character for love (愛) consists of a heart
   (middle) inside of "accept," "feel" or "perceive," which shows a
   graceful emotion.
   Enlarge
   The traditional Chinese character for love (愛) consists of a heart
   (middle) inside of "accept," "feel" or "perceive," which shows a
   graceful emotion.

   In ordinary use, love usually refers to interpersonal love, an
   experience felt by a person for another person. Love often involves
   caring for or identifying with a person or thing, including oneself
   (cf. narcissism).

   The very existence of love is itself subject to debate. Some
   categorically reject the notion as false or meaningless. Others call it
   a recently-invented abstraction, sometimes dating the "invention" to
   courtly Europe during or after the middle ages, although this is
   contradicted by the sizable body of ancient love poetry. Others
   maintain that love really exists, and is not an abstraction, but is
   undefinable, being an essence which is spiritual or metaphysical in
   nature. Some psychologists maintain that love is the action of lending
   one's "boundary" or " self-esteem" to another. Others attempt to define
   love by applying the definition to everyday life.

   Cultural differences make any universal definition of love difficult to
   establish. Expressions of love may include the love for a soul or mind,
   the love of laws and organizations, love for a body, love for nature,
   love of food, love of money, love for learning, love of power, love of
   fame, love for the respect of others, etc. Different people place
   varying degrees of importance on the kinds of love they receive. Love
   is essentially an abstract concept, easier to experience than to
   explain. Because of the complex and abstract nature of love, discourse
   on love is commonly reduced to a thought-terminating cliché, and there
   are a number of common proverbs regarding love, from Virgil's "Love
   conquers all" to The Beatles' " All you need is love." Bertrand Russell
   describes love as a condition of "absolute value," as opposed to
   relative value.

   Though love is considered a positive and desirable aspect of existence,
   love can cause a great deal of emotional harm. Consider Romeo and
   Juliet, Othello, Great Expectations, and other classical and popular
   works that enumerate how love can lead to tragedy and emotional pain.
   In human interactions, love becomes a peril when love is not bilateral,
   known as Unrequited love. A further peril for individuals that love, or
   can love others, is that love is not enduring and that many people have
   psychological defense mechanisms inhibit their ability to accept or
   reciprocate love.

Human bonding

   People, throughout history, have often considered phenomena such as
   “love at first sight” or “instant friendships” to be the result of an
   uncontrollable force of attraction or affinity. One of the first to
   theorize in this direction was the Greek philosopher Empedocles who in
   the fourth century BC argued for existence of two forces: love (philia)
   and strife (neikos), which were used to account for the causes of
   motion in the universe. These two forces were said to intermingle with
   the four elements, i.e. earth, water, air, and fire, in such a manner
   that love, so to say, served as the binding power linking the various
   parts of existence harmoniously together.

   Later, Plato interpreted Empedocles’ two agents as attraction and
   repulsion, stating that their operation is conceived in an alternate
   sequence. From these arguments, Plato originated the concept of “likes
   attract”, e.g. earth is thus attracted towards earth, water toward
   water, and fire toward fire. In modern terms this is often phrased in
   terms of “birds of a feather flock together”. Later, following
   developments in electrical theories, such as Coulomb's law, which
   showed that positive and negative charges attract, analogs in human
   life were developed such as "opposites attract." Over the last century,
   researcher on the nature of human mating, such as in evolutionary
   psychology, agree that pairs unite or attract to each other owing to a
   combination of opposites attract, e.g. people with dissimilar immune
   systems tend to attract, and likes attract, such similarities of
   personality, character, views, etc. In recent years, various human
   bonding theories have been developed described in terms of attachments,
   ties, bonds, and or affinities.

Religious views

   Love in early religions was a mixture of ecstatic devotion and
   ritualised obligation to idealised natural forces (pagan polytheism).
   Later religions shifted emphasis towards single abstractly-oriented
   objects like God, law, church and state (formalised monotheism). A
   third view, pantheism, recognises a state or truth distinct from (and
   often antagonistic to) the idea that there is a difference between the
   worshipping subject and the worshipped object. Love is reality, of
   which we, moving through time, imperfectly interpret ourselves as an
   isolated part.

   The Bible speaks of love as a set of attitudes and actions that are far
   broader than the concept of love as an emotional attachment. Love is
   seen as a set of behaviours that humankind is encouraged to act out.
   One is encouraged not just to love one's partner, or even one's friends
   but also to love one's enemies. The Bible describes this type of active
   love in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8:


Love

    Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it
    is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily
     angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil
    but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always
                 hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.


                                                                          Love

   Romantic love is also present in the Bible, particularly the Song of
   Songs. Traditionally, this book has been interpreted allegorically as a
   picture of God's love for Israel and the Church. When taken naturally,
   we see a picture of ideal human marriage:


Love

    Place me like a seal over your heart, like a seal on your arm; for love
    is as strong as death, its jealously unyielding as the grave. It burns
      like a blazing fire, like a mighty flame. Many waters cannot quench
    love; rivers cannot wash it away. If one were to give all the wealth of
               his house for love, it would be utterly scorned.


                                                                           Love

   The passage dodi li v'ani lo, i.e. "my beloved is mine and I am my
   beloved", from Song of Songs 2:16, is an example a biblical quote
   commonly engraved on wedding bands.

Cultural views

   Although there exist numerous cross-cultural unified similarities as to
   the nature and definition of love, as in there being a thread of
   commitment, tenderness, and passion common to all human existence,
   there are differences. For example, in India and parts of Southeast
   Asia, with arranged marriages commonplace, it is believed that love is
   not a necessary ingredient in the initial stages of marriage – it is
   something that can be created during the marriage; whereas in Western
   culture, by comparison, love is seen as a necessary prerequisite to
   marriage.

Scientific views

   Throughout history, philosophy and religion have done the most
   speculation on the phenomenon of love. In the last century, the science
   of psychology has written a great deal on the subject. In recent years,
   the sciences of evolutionary psychology, evolutionary biology,
   anthropology, neuroscience, and biology have added to our understanding
   of the nature and function of love.

   Biological models of sex tend to view love as a mammalian drive, just
   like hunger or thirst. Psychology depicts love as a cognitive and
   social phenomenon. Psychologist Robert Sternberg formulated a
   Triangular theory of love and argued that love has three different
   components: Intimacy, Commitment, and Passion. Intimacy is a form by
   which two people can share secrets and various details of their
   personal lives. Intimacy is usually shown in friendships and romantic
   love affairs. Commitment on the other hand is the expectation that the
   relationship is going to last forever. The last and most common form of
   love is sexual attraction and passion. Passionate love is shown in
   infatuation as well as romantic love. This led researchers such as Yela
   to further refine the model by separating Passion into two independents
   components: Erotic Passion and Romantic Passion.

Chemical basis

   Recent studies in neuroscience have indicated that a consistent number
   of chemicals are present in the brain when people testify to feeling
   love. These chemicals include; Testosterone, Oestrogen, Dopamine,
   Norepinephrine, Serotonin, Oxytocin, and Vasopressin. More
   specifically, higher levels of Testosterone and Oestrogen are present
   during the lustful phase of a relationship. Dopamine, Norepinephrine,
   and Serotonin are more commonly found during the attraction phase of a
   relationship. Oxytocin, and Vasopressin seemed to be more closely
   linked to long term bonding and relationships characterized by strong
   attachments.

   In 2005, Italian scientists at Pavia University found that a protein
   molecule known as the nerve growth factor (NGF) has high levels when
   people first fall in love, but these levels return to as they were
   after one year. Specifically, four neurotrophin levels, i.e. NGF, BDNF,
   NT-3, and NT-4, of 58 subjects who had recently fallen in love were
   compared with levels in a control group who were either single or
   already engaged in a long-term relationship. The results showed that
   NGF levels were significantly higher in the subjects in love than as
   compared to the either of the control groups.

Definitional issues

   Dictionaries tend to define love as deep affection or fondness. In
   colloquial use, according to polled opinion, the most favoured
   definitions of love include the words:
    1. life - someone to whom one would give their life.
    2. care - refers to a mental or emotional state of predisposition in
       which one has an interest or concern for someone or something. To
       care for someone, may also refer to a disquieted state of mixed
       uncertainty, apprehension, and responsibility; or a cause for such
       anxiety.
    3. friendship - favoured interpersonal associations or relationships.
    4. union - dissolution of loving subject into loved object; a
       hyper-real state of creative generosity.
    5. family - people related via common ancestry(ie:Platonic love)
    6. bond - the inner connection when another person is a part of your
       identity.

   Thomas Jay Oord defines love as acting intentionally, in sympathetic
   response to others (including God), to promote overall well-being. Oord
   means for his definition to be adequate for religion, philosophy, and
   the sciences.

   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Love"
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