How are you going to explain in terms of chemistry & physics so important a biological phenomenon as love?

Question

"How on earth are you ever going to explain in terms of chemistry and physics so important a biological phenomenon as first love?" This is quote by famous physicist Albert Einstein..... I just was curious if some sincere scientist was really interested in answering the question.... how would have he gone about it?

Can the question be answered?

Thanks, Einsteins. :-)

Answer 1

Einstein understood the nature of Calculus (more or less invented by Newton).

Calculus is the mathematical principle which focuses more on the relationships between numbers than the actual numbers themselves.

It's not the values of either X or Y that matter, but the relationship between the variables X and Y that dictate the natural laws of our universe and being.

For the bulk of readers here: It's neither the Apple or the Tree but the rate at which the Apple falls from the Tree and the 'Why'.

If one were serious, in my opinion, about getting to the root causes of "Love", the first tool of choice would be Calculus.

I repeat this important point: "It's not the values of either X or Y that matter, but the relationship between the variables X and Y that dictate the natural laws of our universe and being."

Someone before suggested that 1+1=3 ... Hogwash !

... but actually, depending on the number system employed, this is a viable answer and a very good point.

Units of measurement, for mathematical purposes (because God gave us 10 fingers and 10 toes) are typically expressed in a Base-10 number system.

Love between two people, however, might logically be best measured in a Base-2 system ...

Neither the X nor the Y is the single factor which explains the relationship.

To solve two equations, you must have no more than two unknown factors.

In Econometrics, we call this a "SUR" problem -- "Seemingly Unrelated Regression"

Employing Calculus, one can solve for the expected interactions between X and Y ... however ... each equation and the model as a whole will inherently posess a "Butu" (sp?) -- an error term -- "That silly thing we cannot control".

The goal is to minimize the Butu and to find a precise fit for the model of X and Y and to provide statistical, mathematical evidence to suggest insights into those things which 'tend' to explain the relationship between X and Y.

Yeppers, 1+1 might very well equal 3.

It's the joy of basic research.

So, the answer to the first part of your question is Calculus and Econometrics.

As for the second part ("Can the question be answered"): I have no earthly idea. I have a few un-earthly ideas, but such is not the proper forum to discuss those. Suffice it to say that "There is a plan". Rejoyce therefore and put some faith in the Butu. It is the Butu (the error term inherent in each individual equation) that either makes or breaks the system.

Answer 2

The short answer is, we don’t. Love, like truth and justice, are beyond the reach of the physical sciences. We must look to philosophy and theology.

I realize this will enrage many who feel that everything should be answerable in terms of physics and chemistry, but going by those alone, there is simply no point to truth, justice or love. As Dr. Manhattan (of the Watchmen) said, “A live body and a dead body contain the same number of particles. Structurally, there’s no discernable difference. Life and death are unquantifiable abstracts, Why should I be concerned?”

We can’t get a unanimous vote on meaning and values here on earth, and even an overwhelmingly majority vote could still be mistaken. If physics and chemistry is all there is… if life came out of ultimately unliving sources, if all that is started from ZERO, from NOTHING, there is no reason to believe that when we love or hold convictions, or that we protest injustice, or are aware of ourselves, that there is any meaning to it at all.

As Einstein was well aware, to be truly universal, a law had to be applicable in all frames of reference. We have to cover all the bases.

Consider Idi Amin, Osama bin Laden, Hitler, Stalin and All Those Guys. On the basis of physics and chemistry, they didn’t do ANYTHING WRONG. Think about that.

Now, do you REALY want to not have anybody above us in the universe, to say that some things are right and other things are wrong?

If there is a God, an eternal God, a personal God, and in particular, a multi-personal God as the Christian Trinity is represented, then love and relationship is something that has always been there, before physics and chemistry were made. This is the only thing that gives us room to rationally hope that our little lives and our little love is worth anything. Everything else is self-delusion.

14 DEC 06, 1313 hrs, GMT.

Answer 3

Important Terms In Physics

Answer 4

Well I don't know if I would call love or first love a "biological" phenomenon at all. Biochemical or neurological perhaps? but I guess molecular neuroscience wasn't really that advanced in those days, so yea it all falls under biological i guess.
The other thing i don't understand is why people fell compelled to bring in issues like faith (religious or not), God and the bible into a question about "first love".
There has been a lot of work done in the field of neuroscience and brain imaging (specially fMRI) to explain love and indeed many other human "states". A lot of the important brain regions are identified, and indeed the circuitry and neurotransmitters involved. Francis Crick thought that neuroscience could ultimately explain consciousness.
So there has been considerable progress in this area. Do we have it all figured out? No, but at least now we know what we are talking about.

Answer 5

I'm a chemist, but not a neurochemist, although I have some passing familiarity with neurotransmitters as I am involved in their scientific study. With that said, I'm more interested in the philosophical aspects of this question, which does touch upon the chemistry and physics of the brain.

One can postulate that any emotional connection that one person makes with another is merely the interaction of neurotransmitters creating certain pathways in the brain that conditions a person to this behaviour. If that is the case, then perhaps the basis of the Universe is simply matter and energy, which are related to each other through Einstein's famous equation. This materialistic viewpoint of nature might make some sense in a purely scientific point-of-view, but that suggests that human beings are merely chemical reactions on a complex level, thus eliminating anything important in life.

However, I do see the higher concepts of love, fidelity, and personal honour (as opposed to lust and general butt-kissing) as extension of patterns that an additional force in the Universe can recognise, one that is related to Life itself and sentience in particular. Love can grow out of lust, but it moves beyond lust into a grander pattern scheme. That we have the cognitive ability to comprehend this is perhaps the best explanation of love that science can provide, although it is based on a faith-principle that science cannot readily demonstrate. However, the materialistic viewpoint is based on the faith-principle of its absence.

Hope that makes some sense. I haven't all the answers, but that's what I think currently.

Answer 6

1

Answer 7

Well, Batman, I happen to know that you are in love, so no doubt this question is near and dear to your heart. However, any attempt to decipher the complex affairs of the heart with something as mundane as mere science simply will not do.

I suggest that you stare deeply into your lover's eyes. There you will find a universe of answers, more profound than all of science combined. If any questions remain, a simple kiss will settle the issue. (Lois taught me this during my moment of deep soul searching)

Answer 8

Dopamine. LOL Abhy.

the stages:
1 Lust: the craze for sex. "Lust evolved to get you out looking for anything," she says.
2 Attraction: the stage of emotional involvement. When attraction goes right, Fisher says, "You're romantic, passionate, elated, giddy, euphoric."
3 Attachment: attraction may evolve into a long-term relationship marked by calm, peace and security.

some chemical processes involved:
Lust responds mainly -- in both sexes -- to testosterone, the "male" hormone.

Attraction is marked by high levels of the neurotransmitter dopamine (also activated by cocaine and nicotine), norepinehprine (adrenaline), the heart-pumping hormone used to respond to emergencies, and low levels of serotonin, another major neurotransmitter.

Attachment is associated with oxytocin, a hormone released during childbirth and nursing, and vasopressin, or anti-diuresis hormone. Vasopressin slows the formation of urine, and at high levels, increases pressure in certain blood vessels.

just fooling around. aint the feeling great though? hugs.

Answer 9

Love can make 1+1=3

Answer 10

There are many people who would make fun of the possibility of altering their destinies. This is because it believes that nobody gets more that what is put in his destiny.