Love as an evolutionary necessity?

Question

I was just thinking, could the feeling of love (if taken from a purely scientific point of view, no religion related answers this time please) might be needed for a species to continue. Now I don't mean for a species going nowhere with intelligence, but maybe one in between the level of most animals and our own. I could elaborate, but I forgot what I was thinking...

That would be rather... depressing.

Thanks for that very insightful answer intel_knight.

Ahh, that's better... lol

extton, I feel that it would be sort of depressing since I feel that what we call love should have a sort of significance. (I'm being rather hypocritical in that, since I always tell people they should look at the evidence and not follow their blind beliefs...)

spirited, think a bit more.

I didn't consider that Sandy, but I don't think that those things would have a significant overall effect.

Answer 1

Ultimately, I believe that love (as an evolutionary necessity) is a complex thing that probably has to do with the fact that we have seriously wrinkled brains crammed into skulls built for smaller, or at least less convoluted brains. I think that love is more an evolutionary by-product than an actual necessity, though it's feasable that love (as we recognize it) could help to ensure the survival of a species by minimizing the potential for competition within a species. Oh, there'd still be competition, especially for mates, but in regard to the other aspects of species life, love seems to be a way of ensuring that the oh-so-vulnerable youngest members of the species are cared for until they're old enough and well-equipped enough to fend for themselves. Mates "in love" with one another are likely to split the duties of caring for offspring, thus making sure that those offspring live long enough to pass inherited genes along.

Also, since Humans are social creatures, love also seems to exist (biologically) as a way of maintaining species cohesion in the face of competition (theoretically) at least in a primordial context. Groups of people, for instance, with the capacity to love one another probably stood a better chance of fighting off competitor carnivores way back in the primordial days of human development.

Since it's fairly certain that other species on this planet also possess emotions, such as love, I tend to think that variations of love exist as a means of establishing links within THOSE species as well...or as history has shown, interspecies links which allow critters such as Humans and cats/dogs to coexist. In the Human/cat or dog situation; love definitely exists for all of those mushy "sentimental" reasons, but also as a means of ensuring that cats/dogs move into ecological niches that they may not have moved into on their own, while Humans benefit from having dogs to fend off potential preditory things and cats to fend off vermin who are after the exact same grain sources that support our dietary needs.

But these are just my thoughts.

Answer 2

Nah, the truth is even worse. Love is a byproduct of the fact that humans are social animals, that they need to reproduce, and that they are intelligent enough to empathize with what is going on in the minds of their peers. It's not necessarily directly related to the survival of the species, although it may help some.

But why would that be so depressing? Love is great on its own - there's no need to embellish it with some sort of cosmic significance. It's already important to us, as humans, and that's what really counts.

Answer 3

well I look at it this way: love is needed to secure your partner. So the woman knows that the man will provide for her and the kids and take care of her. And for the man so that he can ensure the continuity of his genes (guaranteed reproduction).

I think love is necessary for the survival of the human species in the sense that we rely so much on contact with other beings. We are social animals and love is a way of establishing these contacts.

Answer 4

I have thought about that, and I agree totally, but I think it goes deeper.

Maybe you've heard of them, or maybe you haven't, but Mirror Neurons are what we have in our heads that help us, "empathize." They sorta relate to our brains the actions we see. This means they are what helps us translate facial expressions and the body motions of each other. And, it is my untested hypothesis that these mirror neurons are what help us make better personal connections between other people. Those with better mirror neurons, those that are better suited to be compatible with potential mates, are probably the ones who are more likely to have kids. Not that it makes much difference, there are hardly any selective forces on our species any more.

Answer 5

I doubt it. It's similar to asking if shame is an evolutionary necessity. These responses to experience are specifically nonadaptive, and are sometimes maladaptive. And evolution is all about adaptation.

Love could arguably hinder evolution, in that it is for reasons of love that we keep the "unfit" in our lives, protect them, care for them, and so forth. Bonds of love make people go to extreme, scientifically unfathomable lengths--like self-sacrifice. Say, for example, that a healthy 40-year-old throws himself in front of a bullet for the sake of protecting his 80-year-old parent. This is an act of love, but it is anti-evolution, in that in evolution it is the older, sicker, and less fit ones that are often abandoned or "sacrificed" by herds. Not the other way around.

I could give many more examples, but hopefully this is enough to get you thinking about how love can cause humans, at least, to behave in precisely unscientific ways that frustrate--not promote--the theorized goals of evolution.

Answer 6

I don't think love is necessary at all to further the species- All you need is sex. That is what causes us to multiply. I think the reason why we might be successful as a species might have something to do with love, so love may be one of the facilitators in our evolution.
It formed pair bonds, love within your clan, family, community. -- when you make connections like that, you become stronger and stronger.

Answer 7

You're funny... Of course a species could continue without love. Are you suggesting that we need love in order to have sex? Procreation only requires the uniting of a sperm and egg. What's love got to do with it?

Answer 8

yes. scientifically speaking, love is a combination of romantic feelings, sexual desire, and need for companionship. All three are evolutionary devices to ensure survival. Courtship allows the female to pick the best mate, sex ensures insemination, tight society helps raise the kids.

Answer 9

yess for our happy life