Atheists ,non-believers,What is the definition of love?

Question

Speaking in a scientific way could you be so kind tonight and tell me your idea what love is and how does it get started and where does it come from in a common sense point of view? I thank you lol

So you are saying love is an emotion.Where did emotions come from in a scientific sense

Do you think monkeys have love for each other or is it an instinctive behavior?

Goldengoose Christians brelieve Jesus is love.I am looking for a hypothesis

Goldengoose Christians believe Jesus is love.I am looking for a hypothesis

So then love for another is a chemical reaction in the brain and animal and reptiles have this love for their offspring like humans do? Do some reptiles eat their young?

Answer 1

WHAT SPIRIT ARE YOU OPERATING FROM? I'M STARTING TO SEE A STRANGE PICTURE HERE.
NO MORE EMAILS, I'M GOING TO SAY THIS AND THATS THAT..
WHAT IS LOVE?? YOU ASKED.

GOD IS, God love you and me enough that he made us, God loves you and I enough that he gave his only begotten son Jesus. God loves you enough to let you live to see another day while you were young, for he is a God of love and of a second chance. The bible says; Set me as a seal upon thine arm; for love is strong as death. Love is when a man lays down his life for the bethern. God is Love, and he that dwell in love dwelleth in God. God loves us enough that he created the universe that you and I and other live. for God is a spirit and they that worship him, must worhip him in spirit and in truth. GOD IS LOVE AND HE IS NO ONE TO PLAY GAMES WITH!

Answer 2

So you want a lesson in cognitive science on a Q+A forum?

The truth is we understand more and more what love is, and you guessed it... it is an emotion generated by the brain like fear, hatred and jealously. It is found in different forms in mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians. That instinct to fixate on something so much you start to ignore other things.

It makes great sense from an evolutionary point of view. Parents that feel love care for their offspring more. Things that fear, evade predators better. Animals that are jealous are often better able to proagate their genes.


EDIT:

I assume you meant this for me: "So then love for another is a chemical reaction in the brain and animal and reptiles have this love for their offspring like humans do? Do some reptiles eat their young?"

Yes, love is a complex set of chemical reactions in the brain. Many people who suffer certian brain traumas loose their ability to love. It is telling that it is always the same area of the brain that gets injured (the R-complex in this case) that produces that effect.

Read what I wrote more carefully, I said emotions are found in different forms in other animals. So no, it is not exactly like humans, but we can learn a lot from other animals.

Yes, some reptiles eat their young (almost all animals exhibit similar behavior - if not eating them, then killing them). Humans also will kill their young.


I suggest you read the book I listed as a source if you want to know a little about cognative science. It is a good introduction.

Answer 3

Just because something is the result of a chemical reaction doesn't make it trivial. The effects can be amazing. Just think about all of the controlled combustions going on tonight. Those are just chemical reactions but they are still beautiful to look at.

Also, a lot of the time, the human brain gets compared to computers. Computers are already capable of many human-like functions, like playing a game of chess. When computers get enough power to be comparable to the brain, isn't it possible we'd see something like emotions from them as well? And I don't think anyone would doubt that they were still machines, a man-made creation.

Answer 4

love is a feeling of attachment that we feel for people close to us. I believe love evolved in our Darwinian past so that we would protect our offspring and close kin.

edit:
Emotions evolved to influence our behavior. If you are feel threatened you might flee and avoid getting hurt of killed. If you feel love for someone and fear that they are in danger, you would probably stay and fight to protect them. Feeling happy with other people is a way of bonding and building a close attachment relationship that makes us want to protect each other. I'm not an expert on emotions, but it's not difficult to understand why they evolved.

Of course animals have emotions. All emotion, even human emotion is, as you put it, "instinctive". Emotion is a very strong motivator.

Animal species who don't stay and protect their young usually have tens if not hundreds of offspring. Out of all those, it's a lucky few who would even survive to adulthood.

Having few offspring means that parents have to invest huge amounts of time and energy nurishing and protecting their young. So those types of animals are probably very emotional.

Answer 5

Emotions (incl. 'love') evolved many millions of years ago and are evident through much of the mammilian world. Our common ancester with DOGS was ~85 mya and love is very evident in them. ... This is basic and Googleable stuff.

Emotions evolved from cooperative and altruistic actions and are necessary for much animal life - think of the even older and more 'primitive' CROC handling her babes in her mouth. Our Common Ancestor with reptiles was ~310 mya!

Re YOUR VERY ODD QUESTION: "Do you think monkeys have love for each other or is it an instinctive behavior?"
YES! ... Your 'or' should be an 'and'... Love *is* instinctive. Clearly... it is NOT learned, and it EXISTS without 'Jesus'!

Answer 6

Just because you are atheist does not mean you cannot love someone!!! Just because you don't Love a god doesn't mean you cannot love a human being! I love my boyfriend very much. Love is an emotion that is satisfying

Love is an emotion triggered by the brain. Last time i checked we all had brains!

Answer 7

Given that we have evolved as a social species, there is a genetic predisposition toward social behavior. Insofar as bonding between a male and female in such societies is beneficial to the development of the young of the species, "love" is a reproductive strategy.

Answer 8

A reaction in the brain that causes an emotion which we call "Love".

It's a survival instinct that comes in handy when you have children. We got it in our monkey and caveman days, and we still have it to this day.

:~)

Answer 9

It is an emotional state.

It comes from an instinct to propagate our genes.

Yes, monkeys love each other.

Lots of animals will ocassionally eat or kill their young (that includes humans on the killing part).

Answer 10

positive concern for the state of humanity and it's individuals as we are members or the the more romantic version the chemical hormonal feelings accompanying the basic biological imperative of reproduction and hence survival and sometimes both

Answer 11

It has a scientific explanation involving a chemical in the brain and hormones, of course.

I call it hidden and elusive.