Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: What is LOve
According to the Webster's dictionary love is defined as “a feeling of strong personal attachment; ardent affection or the strong liking of another person.” However, in all actuality what is love? What is it that causes the butterflies? What is it that causes the emotions that can't be described in words other than, “you just know?” the feelings for every person are unique when it comes to love which makes defining it even more difficult. Even though the relationships and the experiences differ for each person; the concept of love all involves the same three stages- lust, attraction, and attachment. Those three stages each have their own particular physiological effect on a person. The reactions that a person in love can have may include butterflies, sweaty hands, a rapid heartbeat and even more, but what is it that truly causes this? What is happening to a person’s brain when they are in love?
There are two theories behind love that seem to complement each other when it comes to defining love. These two theories are the psychological and the physiological. Separately each theory works well to illustrate the phenomenon that is love, but together the theories seem to fill in the gaps that the other leaves behind. The physiological theory elucidates love as a result of hormones. Hormones can be blamed for influencing many situations, but how a person decides to react to the hormones is where the two theories intersect each other. In the book “Human Development” written by James W. Vander Zander; Michael Liebowitz is quoted as:
Love has a unique chemical basis. Love and romance are among the most powerful activators of the brain's pleasure centers, and they may contribute to a special transcendent feeling-a sense of bei...
... middle of paper ...
...hat the cause of a person's feelings should be as well. While the definition and the beliefs that are involved in love may differ depending on person, times, and culture there is no debate that the emotion is a genuine phenomenon to the person experiencing it.
Works Cited
Fisher, Helen. Why We Love: The Nature and Chemistry of Romantic Love. New York:
Henry Holt, 2004. Print.
Fromm, Erich. The Art of Loving. New York: The Continuum International Publishing Group,
2000. Print.
Lewis,Thomas, Fari Amini, Richard Lannon. A General Theory of Love. New York:
Random House, 2000. Print.
Liebowitz, Michael R..The Chemistry of Love. Boston: Little Brown and Company,
1983. Print.
Vander Zanden, James W.. Human Development. New York: Knopf,
1985. Print.
Zeki. S. “The Neurobiology of Love. “
FEBS Letters. 581. 2575-2579. Web. 11 April 2011.
Sian Beilock is the author of this novel, the information written by her would be considered credible due to the fact that she is a leading expert on brain science in the psychology department at the University of Chicago. This book was also published in the year 2015 which assures readers that the information it contains is up to date and accurate. The novel is easy to understand and the author uses examples of scientific discoveries to help make the arguments more relatable. Beilock goes into depth about how love, is something more than just an emotion, it derives from the body’s anticipation. “Volunteers reported feeling
Love, an intense, deep feeling of connection, romantic, or sexual attachment showing affection for someone or something. As for all pleasant emotions, the feeling that comes with love is exquisitely satisfying. It feels like a cool, , long drink of water when you are parched on a hot day, it it refreshing. Scientists have a pretty good idea of what love does to the brain. Being in love floods the brain with chemicals and hormones that produce feelings of pleasure, obsession and attachment. Neuroscientists divide love into three phases: lust, attraction and attachment. During the lust phase, hormones flood the body with feelings of intense desire. Adrenaline and norepinephrine make the heart race and the palms sweat, while the brain chemical
The article '' love: the right chemistry'' by Anastasia Toufexis efforts to explain the concept of love from a scientific aspect in which an amateur will understand. Briefly this essay explains and describe in a scientific way how people's stimulation of the body works when you're falling in love. The new scientific researches have given the answer through human physiology how genes behave when your feelings for example get swept away. The justification for this is explained by how the brain gets flooded by chemicals. The author expresses in one point that love isn't just a nonsense behavior nor a feeling that exhibits similar properties as of a narcotic drug. This is brought about by an organized chemical chain who controls different depending on the individual. A simple action such as a deep look into someone's eyes can start the simulation in the body that an increased production of hand sweat will start. The tingly feeling inside your body is a result of a scientific delineation which makes the concept of love more concretely and more factually mainly for researchers and the wide...
The notion behind loving someone is simply a very complicated and esoteric in nature. People often describe a certain chemistry, as in a certain attraction, needed between two individuals who are in love but Barbara Fredrickson is able to coordinate the definition of love on the basis of chemicals. Barbara Fredrickson is able to provide the definition of love on the deductive reasoning based on chemistry, biology, and neurology explained in Love 2.0: How our Supreme Emotion Affects Everything we Feel, Think, Do, and Become. As Barbara explains "With each micro-moment of love, then, you climb another rung on the spiraling ladder that lifts you up to your higher ground, to richer and more compassionate social relationships, to greater resilience
Tina Turner, along many artists before and after her, has written songs about love, but what is love? Why do people say they see fireworks when they fall in love? Why do your knees go weak, your palms sweat, your stomach does flip-flops and you begin to stammer when you fall in love? What is it about emotions, including love that seems to effect your entire body, both mentally and physically? Everyday, people talk about feeling happy, feeling sad, feeling anxious...and so on, but what causes emotions, in particular, what causes someone to say they are in love?
Much of my life, love has been defined by an unexplainable and uncontrollable feeling that burns inside your soul. One that when you look at a person you will just know and the rest will be history. This definition of love I grew up love was also demanding, controlling, dependent, and selfish. But still it was something to be desired and something everyone couldn’t wait to feel. To love
One may ask what love is, how do you define love? You can look up the word love in the dictionary and find ten or more different explanations. Most sociologists consider love to be learned through cultural experiences (Love). This would mean that however or if persons parents showed them love while growing up, that is how that individual would interpret love throughout their life. When the Puritans first came to America, their concept of love was less of a romantic passion and more of a deepening reciprocal of respect and affection (Seidman 16). During the Enlightenment (1714-1818), love was typically viewed as a rational and orderly experience that could be controlled by those who experienced it (Sternberg 69). Love was assumed to be a rational feeling made by rational people and thus could be controlled. This belief had a major alteration during the eighteenth and nineteenth century when people began to believe that love was uncontrollable and could happen without reason (Sternberg 70). This change in the perception of love being uncontrollable also shifted the conclusion that people were not as rational as first presumed. In the late twentieth century, love became more sexualized and erotic which became perceived as a crisis in sexual morality and marriage (Seidman 66). Love today is viewed as unobtainable by reason of Americans have unrealistic expectations of love, true love, love at first sight, and the idea that love conquers all (Love). As a result of these unrealistic views, Americans have moved back to the concept that love is controllable but not necessary for a “romantic” relationship (Sternberg 63). As presented, love and the interpretation of what love is has transformed dramatically over the past two hundred years ...
Poets and philosophers for centuries have been trying to answer the question, what is love? Love has an infinite number of definitions, which vary from one person to another. Love cannot be measured by any physical means. One may never know what true love is until love it- self has been experienced. What is love? A four letter word that causes a person to behave in a way that is out of character. What is love? A first kiss, childhood crushes on a teacher or friend’s mom. What is love? A choice that people make by putting their partner’s wishes, desires and needs above everything else. What is love? The act of forgiveness, the infatuation with someone, the communication between two people. What is love? A friendship that turned into a lifelong commitment, that special someone who has vowed to spend the rest of their lives to honor and protect, to love each other “till death do you part.” When in love nothing else in the world matters. According to the online Encarta Dictionary love is the passionate feeling of romantic and sexual desire and longing for somebody. Poets and philosophers may never know what love really is, and we may never truly understand the question what is love.
The word love is usually misused or misinterpreted. There are numerous meanings and definitions to this overly used word. Not many of them make much sense to me. Love is a feeling of complete bliss. Love is something that can’t be touched or bought, but is something that is much better than money and earthly objects. I can stay here and describe love all day long and still have so much more to say about this word days later. Love isn’t a word that should be used lightly, but usually is. I believe that love is the most commonly used, but most understood word ever known
Love is not usually well defined. People often think that they are in love, but they can�t explain it. There is a great dealing of confusion of the words love, and infatuation. Love may include romance, infatuation, affection and tenderness. But it could be love if one or more of the elements are not present. The definition of love varies from person to person. Love is essential element for all relationships. Much of what is written about love is either brief or mocking. Society in general is very cruel and heartless toward real love of any kind. Modern writing mocks marriages, husbands and wives, but condones adultery, and other obscene values. Real love is a mystery to most people. Most people never realize the true potential or value of love, nor do they learn to practice the art of love.
The Definition of Love Love by definition is an emotion explored in philosophy, religion, and literature, often as either romantic love, the fraternal love of others, or the love of God based on the definition found in The Encarta Encyclopedia. As I explored the definitions through the Internet, books, and articles, I noticed the definitions changed quite a bit, but yet had the same basic understanding. The definition I found in The Encarta Encyclopedia is probably the most simple and most basic. It refers to love in the whole aspect, which is Godly, fraternal, and romantic. All of which can only be defined by one word and that is love.
Boston: Bedford/St. Martins,. 349. The. “Psychological Theories About the Dynamics of Love (I).” 01 Mar. 2005 http://psychology.about.com/library/weekly/aa022000a.htm Richmond, Raymond Lloyd.
According to Vultaggio (2015), Maya Angelou once said: “In the flush of love 's light, we dare be brave. And suddenly we see that love costs all we are, and will ever be. Yet it is only love which sets us free.” Dr. Rappleyea (2015) once stated that love is a very complex emotion perhaps the most complicated of all human emotions. Some might even add that love is not only an emotion but it is also an action shared between one or more individuals. Family greatly influences how we love and the way we show our love for one another. In fact we first learn what love is or what it is not in our household, and gradually our meaning of love will mature. Psychologist Robert Sternberg developed a triangular theory of love which explains the topic of
Love, in fact, is all of these things combined together. Love is spiritual, not physical. It is a union of souls and hearts and minds, not something you can't put under your microscope and understand!" Love is an emotion combined with a series of feelings. These feelings can be immensely powerful and wonderful. Romantic love is defined as an intense emotional state that one person experiences in relation to another. These types of feelings appear to be among the most intense that most of us are capable of, and at least in some cases, grow rather than diminish with time.
We all fall in love at some point in our lives whether it be a passion, faith, or another person. Falling in love is a natural human behavior. It ensures the continuance of the human race through reproduction. Love is often considered a mystery because of its unexplainable feelings. It is the personal and affectionate relationship between two people. Researchers have discovered the biological reasons behind falling in love. The brain controls the signals that release chemicals and hormones in your body to give that rush that love brings.