If love can be correlated to chemical reactions in the brain, does that mean love is just those reactions...?

Question

or is love something else, something external which triggers those reactions?

I know correlation doesn't equal causation - that's the whole point of my question. Is 'love' what we're calling the sensation or is it in someway defined by the target, is what I'm getting at.

I'm not asking if love is associated with chemical reactions - it definitely is, and we feel love we're definitely feeling the release of those various chemicals. But by the same token, we don't fall in love with everyone, we fall in love with particular people - so presumably there is something in them which is causing love as well. II want to know whether 'love' is contained in the perceptual object (the person we love) or the physiological reaction to that person (the chemical release).

Answer 1

Interesting way of putting it... if we really like a particular food, there are chemical reactions associated with our enjoyment of it, and we would call it "good taste." But, we generally would say the "good taste" resides in the food, not in our brain. When we see something we think of as beautiful, we have a reaction in our brain, but we generally think of "beauty" as residing in the object we're perceiving. So if you follow that logic, if a certain person causes the chemical reactions we associate with "love" then "love" would be a property of the external object. Hmmm.

Answer 2

This is not the first time that I have seen this question. In fact there's a book regarding this particular topic. How love = chemical reactions. See "Why We Love: The Nature and Chemistry of Romantic Love" and check out this from the source below:
The most intriguing stuff, of course, is the chapter on the chemistry of love, and how the various stages of love are echoed in the various brain chemicals that take their turns assaulting the body and creating such feelings of euphoria, need, lust, warmth, comfort, security and even rage and jealousy. Surprise, surprise – all of this is directly related to our ability to procreate and survive as a species, meaning that love is not as mysterious as we think it is, once we begin to understand its physical origins and manifestations. Funny how we’ve always associated the heart with the originator of love, but this book makes it clear that our brains are the culprits with their secretions of dopamine, norepinephrine, testosterone, et al, all of which serve to make us swoon.

Answer 3

Love is a gift that makes us different from other animals... it's not just a matter of chemicals inside the brain, because it has to do with the spirit of the person, and the spirit doesn't live it the brain. People who were in coma (in final stages, whose brains didn't work any longer), have told things which happened while they were lying there, while everyone else thought they were totally unconcious.

Answer 4

Perhaps they are just chemical reactions. After all, we can't discount what neuroscientists have said:

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 Seretonin are more commonly found during the attraction phase of a relationship. Oxytocin, and Vasopressin seemed to be more closley linked to long term bonding and relationships characterized by strong attachments.

But of course, we can't discount the fact that love can also be something else.

Love is, indeed, one of the greatest mysteries of the universe.

Answer 5

Good point.

The society has been feeding us with this image of love that it originates from the soul, but there is science and it plants a seed of doubt.Why does everyone feel attracted to different types of people,maybe it depends on the personality,something that we differentiate ourselves,something unique......
But when you look at it society has a important role in that too, creating your own self.
So how do we determine love ?
The more I think about it the more it confuses me....
It all ads up to what you want to believe in......
I believe that love is a gift, and i don't really care what causes it....
But I can feel it and see it my my loved ones eyes.
Judge me I'm a romantic.

Answer 6

Every emotion we feel is just a chemical reaction in the brain. The emotion of love, or anger, happiness, or hate for that matter, is normaly stimulated by an outside source. The two options you presented are in fact two stages of the same sequence.

Answer 7

We are walking chemical factories, the chemicals respond to our ego stimulation, responding to many types of stimulation, including religious, social, romantic, success etc. The chemical energy is like a battery that needs constant recharging. As we become used to that chemical level it takes more and more stimulation to get the same result. Thus, the falling in and out of love.

Answer 8

i think that love is, in its material manifestation, nothing more than an incredibly powerful chemical reaction. but humans, being the overthinkers, are completely entranced by the idea of love as this ethereal, unreal and totally intangible ideal. i think that love in the sense that, for example, the beatles advocated - a universal acceptance of all life - is very real.

humans need only to mate to survive. romantic love is only an evolutionary reaction to keep us procreating.

Answer 9

Love is a many splendoured thing and not just a chemical reaction. But wouldn't it be cool if you could induce those reactions in everybody? Then there would be peace and love and happiness for evermore! (goes out singing) And I think to myself...what a wonderful woild

Answer 10

When you are engaged in the process of falling in love, there is no doubt in your mind that the chemical reactions in your brain emanate from every molecule in the universe.