Not sure this is the right place for it, but...

Okay. Love. What's the big deal? Everyone makes such a fuss over it, emphasise it's importance, but why? Christians say their god is a loving god, parents are expected to love their kids... Not to mention all the songs, poems, stories, etc... The list goes on. I just don't get it. Most especially with the loving god part. What makes love so important?

To realise how important love is, try imagining a world without it....

Can do. Consider it done.

I still don't get it, though.

If it is done.. honestly.. i will pray you as my god.

But let me clear the point.. you don't love to live.. you don't love your food.. money.. position.. family.. you don't want to know what exist.. utlimatly you are in full darkness without any action.. then sure i am

I don't see why. All PA asked me to do is imagine.



Rather than clear the point, that just confused me... Full darkness without any action? Wha...?

I hoped the next part was self-evident. Now that you've imagined a life without Love, what do you see? Be as specific as you can. How different will the world be without Love?

Yes.. for me too it is confusing .. lol

what i told is... you can't even imagine without a energy of love.. if you did.. explain how exactly that world look like? then that should be a pure darkness without any thought or action!

choastrom, not to get too personal, but did you just 'break up' with someone? If so, I can understand your reasoning. Love is the one thing that makes life worth living, whether its love for friends and family, hobbies, or yourself. Love will come your way again, I can promise you that. Sometimes love can hurt, but the benefits far outweigh that.

My world is already without love, so it's no different as far I can see...



Don't see how that works.



Me, break up? Never! Anyway, what benefits?

As discussed with Beckys Mom on a different thread, I have, on my emotional being, a blank where other people have a hope/despair gauge, and I also have a blank where other people have a love/jealousy gauge on their emotional being... So I can't see how it would be any different. Provided there is a difference, however, it still doesn't account for all the interest people have in it. No love is necessary for survival, love isn't needed to generate compassion, love has no influence on intellect and understanding... Think about it. It only influences perception and leaves one open to jealousy, and jealousy achieves nothing good.

THen my heart goes out to you, my friend. You may not be able to feel love, but there is Loving energy being projected towards you right now.

If you ever have any issues you want to discuss, my PM box is always open

Regards, PA

MY LIFE IS TWO-DIMENSIONAL, WITH THE SUN,
LAUGHTER, AND LOVE ONE MINUTE, THE RAIN, CLOUDS,
AND TEARS THE NEXT. ONE SAYING LOVE IS ALL, THE
OTHER SAYING WITHOUT WAR THERE IS NO PEACE. WHO
SHOULD I BELIEVE, WHICH PATH SHALL I FOLLOW?
EVERYONE RUNNING IN CIRCLES, GOING SOMEWHERE
AND YET NOT KNOWING WHERE OR HOW. THEY DREAM OF
THE FUTURE, BRIGHT AND SHINING AS A NEW PENNY,
YET SOMEHOW IT'S ALWAYS DARK. WHAT WE HOLD IN
OUR HEARTS IS DIFFERENT THAN WHAT FATE HAS IN
STORE FOR US, FOR IN OURS HEARTS EVERYTHING IS
LOVELY, YET IN REALITY IT IS CLOUDY AND UGLY.
WHICH WAY DO WE GO?
AS I STAND, DRINKING IN THE BEAUTY OF THE FALLING DAY,
SAYING GOOD-BYE TO ONE MORE DAY OF
HEARTACHE, I WONDER WHAT MIGHT BE IN STORE ON
THE MORROW. IT SHINES SO LOVELY IN IT'S RED
ORANGE TWILIGHT, PEEKING FROM BEHIND THE CLOUDS.
I KNOW I CAN'T DO NOTHING FOR MYSELF, BUT HOP FOR
A PERIOD OF TIME THAT IS A SUN-SHINNY AS MY DREAMS.

It seems as though you have it figured out. If you understand it, then why ask the questions?
Maybe you are unsure, maybe you would love want for people to agree with you --"yea, love sucks." I happen to think though you're fighting natural instincts. Love takes trust and a willingness to accept that you are capable of being loved.

Did you write that?

My english is not that good.. it is from a site.. i don't remember..

Here's the link for ya j4jak Life without love is no life at all

Of course parents are suppose to love their kids. They're suppose to take care of their children, so why wouldn't they love them?

It may be of some interest to you that ''approximately 13 percent of cultures reportedly have no word for love''. (Ackerman, Diane - A Natural History of Love)

Do you feel hate?

If there were no love and no hate, there would be no like and dislike and a near total lack of stimulus in our lives.

But to try and answer your question, why is love so important? I guess love is so important because it symbolizes the opposite of hate and as a whole we are hardwired and taught that hate is bad, bad being the opposite of good which we are told is... well good.

I believe love and good have been hardwired into our minds because it optimizes continuity. If parents didn't love their children their children would grow up to be ''unhealthy'' individuals and that cycle could result in a disaster for continuity and evolution. In our case love and good benefits life and life will do as it will to continue.

Love is the quintessential human emotion. Real love is unconditional and universal, for all the people on this planet, bar none.

Imagine a world without love. Humanity cannot exist without love.

I think The Captain and Tennille should have answered any questions you have about love with their remake of, Muskrat Love. (Sorry, America fans, The Captain and Tennille just had better cheese factor ratings in my book. )

Love = the jitterbug, shimmying, bacon, cheese, kissing, fancy-tickling, toe-rubbing, wriggling, giggling, whirling, twirling, doing the tango, singing, jingin' the jango. Or is jinglin' the jango, or jingin' the jangle, or jinglin' the jangle? I never knew, but I've always prefered jingin' the jango. Oh yeah.

But, Chaostrom, to answer your question, "What makes love so important?" Because life would really suck without it.

Maybe not profound, but it works for me.

to love is to hate, and to hate is to love. love what you hate, and hate what you love. love is the key to true happiness, because it will show you all the sides of this reality!! thus, with the will power you have been given, you shall sort thru the dark with the light and see Love as its own whole, because i myself believe, once a spirit is down with this realm, if you have seen the all the 'true' aspects of love, you will forever soak in it...and all the good that comes with it! thats my heaven baby. but yes, you need to love because without it, this reality, that has a duality to everything, would be the fiery pits of 'hell'.

so keep on lovin!!!!! and keepin the peace!
-liz

..which by the way, is on its way to becoming 'hell' with another anti-christ at ppower and leading a war that is only the beginning of a complete destruction!!!!!! HAIL HITLER..i mean BUSH....america's downfall, Lincoln said it himself...

peaceNlove
Liz

It's off-topic, but I appreciate that PA



You've lost me. Figured what out?



Not at all. Because I have never given, received or even felt love, I don't see what's so great about it. I don't want people saying "love sucks" or anything, I want genuine reasons as to why it's so great.



Really? That is interesting.



Uhh... Not really. I may be incapable of feeling love, but I still like things.







Actually, it wouldn't be such a disaster for continuity and evolution, or are you going to tell me next that animals love?



Bar me!



So I'm not a part of humanity now?



I don't see why... (it's a small 'c' in chaostrom, thanks)



Say what? English please?

And just something else you may be interested in. You've probably heard it before, but it's a good quote still *I like it at least *

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.... And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. From 1 Corinthians 13

To be clear I wasn't giving you the reasons why I think love is important only why we as a species feel love and its importance, in my opinion. But to answer your above question, I think it could be argued that some animals do feel "love". Even an insect, though it doesn't now of love, it still has a compelling urge to find a partner and reproduce, the same as *most* humans except we call part of that urge love and well they can't talk. We are more evolved emotionally and intellectually than animals so of course these basic urges will become or evolve with us into seperate urges and emotions. In my opinion all emotions are due to evolution, to help keep us alive, keep us reproducing, etc.

But to be honest you do sound like you were just dumped.

Be honest.. You fear a lot about everything.. you don't have guts to loose anything.. you want to be selfish to fulfill your desires.. to know the meaning of love.. you should know little about sacrifice.. surrendering something which you valued..

So... Faith, nope. Hope, nope. Love, nope. Where does that leave me?



Yes... That could be argued, but it's not something I agree with... No love is required for sex, so love isn't required to reproduce, otherwise there would be no prostitutes and no unwanted pregnancies...



Even though I know people who have been dumped, I've never discussed it with them, so I have no idea what a person who's just been dumped would sound like... Thanks for your honesty anyway.



1. I am being honest.
2. I don't fear a lot about everything - to the contrary, I fear very little.
3. You're telling me I don't have the guts to lose everything? Do you even know what I have to lose? Very little.
4. Selfish. Hmm. Negative.
5. Sacrifice? No problem.

No offence, I'm not trying to judge you or anything, but maybe you should get to know someone better instead of assuming things about them?

This thread isn't supposed to be about me, people. I don't get why love is considered so great, so I'm asking why because I've never been there, okay? For the record I've never even had interest in anybody, much less go out with anyone or be dumped, so please keep that in mind.

Love is a detachment from the strings that end up tying tighter than love was ever meant to be. Love without fear of what may come tomorrow, for that is what love is. It belongs to no one but yourself and cannot be taken or given as a token or gift. Your worries and fears have nothing to do with love. They are extensions of either the world around you and/or your own shortcomings. Compare them not to love or you shall lose your choice in the matter of love..
If love be not free and exhilaratingthen it is not love but demand and desire for possession of which you are not.

Love allows
It is not reactive..
It is perspective of self, self in reflection and glory, mirrored in a feeling that is beautiful to feel
anything else is not love - but obligation.
That is something to be worked with...

I still don't get what makes love so great... Okay, time to stop beating around the bush. I am going to post what I know about love, and hopefully that will narrow things down...

What I know about love:
Viewing - movies, dramas, etc. Major waste of time. The endings are predictable. Same techniques (love triangles and the such). Identical themes (love overcoming all boundaries, etc). Why bother?
Listening. Songs, poems, stories... Again, all with similar themes, predictable endings, plot, etc...
Weakness. One of the three 'L's that makes a fool out of a person. People exploiting the ideal of love for their own ends, people wasting their lives and fortunes on chasing it, leaves one open to feelings of jealousy...
Distraction. Youth dreams about it, great minds pondering the philosophies of love, people devoted to getting it through any means... What for?
Purpose. None as far as I can see.
Experience. None, but widespread reports of happiness and good feeling.

To sum up? Well, that's what this thread is for, but so far? Over-rated. Very over-rated.

Re-read what I wrote dear - what you are under-rating isn't love.

Love is something else. It isnt found if we are not ready to find, to find we must see, feel hear, if you are looking for something outside of what you already know on another level, you'll be looking a long time.

chaostrom - judging by your posts in this thread, you seem to have some problems in your life. I'm not a specialist, I'm not even going to pretend to know exactly what. But with blankness in your life, as you say, no love or hate, just existence, it sounds like you should really consider seeing a psychologist. They're trained in dealing with issues just such as this.

Just a thought.

Regards, PA

Well, "Love is a detachment from the strings that end up tying tighter than love was ever meant to be" doesn't make too much sense (to me at least), and "Love without fear of what may come tomorrow, for that is what love is. It belongs to no one but yourself and cannot be taken or given as a token or gift" doesn't really seems to apply at all... The rest of that post doesn't really give any reasons of any sort as to why love is so great...



I don't really get this either...



Who doesn't have a problem in their life? But...



That is taking it a bit far. Just because I'm blank in the love (and the hope/despair)department doesn't mean I'm an emotional non-entity. I get happy, sad, mad, whatever.

my last post is full of question.. and i asked you to post your honest reply for it.. so let be clear... still i am not assuming anything about you.. if i would.. then i like to tell.. you know more about love..

My apologies then, chaostrom. Your posts do seem a little melodromatic though:

I read the thread and it seems interesting.

The question is, whats the big deal about love?

Well, thats a profound question, really. Without love, the world would be lost and full of despair. Love gives hope and happiness. Gives meaning to someone's life. While love is wonderful, it also hurts. Some people love someone so much it hurts.

The problem is that what has been overlooked is one fundamental truth: People speak different love languages.

It sounds to me like you want love broken down. Well thats very difficult to do, because while love is something the human race -needs-, its also something misunderstood by many. Or used to their advantage, like when someone says 'I love you' for something they selfishly want.

Love is widely based. I can sit here and tell you love is not selfish, it's pure, etc. But everyone else already has. Love can be as simply as a cookie, or as complicated as marriage. Having children. I myself am married with a two year old son. You once asked that parents are expected to love their kids. Take it from me, that comes naturally.

Love itself is a universal experience. Yet, every individual occurrence - while perhaps bound by a common thread - seems absolutely unique. How can the question be answered in a meaningful way if the very definition of love is uniquely defined by those involved?


Vixen

Love completes a person. Fills the emptiness that is inside everyone of us.
Their is no way you can describe what love really is as everyone feels/understands the concept of love a completely different ways.

The only way to really know what love is, and what the big deal is. Is after someone comes into your life, and you know in your heart that without her {or him, for the chicks} you would be completely lost.

Nothing on this planet equals the power of love.
['cept lust but that's for another day ]

Could you clarify?



Put like that, yes, it would appear I have problems. Didn't realise Thanks for pointing it out.



It's meant to be



Why no love = despair? Also I understand from a variety of sources that love can hurt. So why love? As I've pointed out in a couple of posts, it doesn't seem necessary. Love doesn't seem to be a need, more of a want.

But the rest of your post implies this thread is doomed to ask questions without coming to a conclusion. Should I abandon it, then? One of the purposes of this thread is for me to understand other people's perceptions of love, but another is for people to question it, which so few people do. To ask why, and have a greater understanding of it.



I would question that, except I sense that'll be one thing that'll never be answered



Thing is, if one thinks about it rationally (much as I have done) it doesn't seem like such a big deal, and once someone crosses over, it'll be difficult for them to think about it rationally, no?

i'm not sure why it is that you think you do not feel love, i think it would be more reasonable to assume that you do not know how to recognize it. so i will do my best to help. love doesn't have to be a strong felling, it could be as simple as enjoyment. what do you like to do, do you enjoy your time with certain people more than others, is there something that you would miss if you were forced to give it up, is there anyone you would hope to see if you went to visit someone, what makes you happy, who are the people that make you laugh, what do you imagine doing the next day before you fall asleep at night. these are the things you should identify within your life, these are the things you love, no matter how small the feelings may be a cannot imagine that you truly do not feel or know what love is.
i hope this helped

Couldn't be bothered to read all the posts, as i got bored fast.

On my Almighty quest through the "Internets" i have met many people like you and after dealing with so many, i gave them a name and that name was "Attention seeker".

I think when you made this thread, you wern't asking a Question what so-ever, you was trying to prove a point, because everything people are saying in this thread is true and you just dismiss it.

I think you know what love is, you're just an angry person who's hurt or trying to pull the "I do not feel emotion, emotion is for the weak" type of macho bullsh*t act.

Do not get offended, it's just my opinion just as your opinion is Love is useless.

P.S





When you say someone's name (Chaostrom is your nick name) you put a Capital letter at the front, it's standard english.

When I was 14 I felt roughly the same as you do right now. I didn't think I would ever feel love. Thought that it was just bullshi**.
By the time I was 16 I was madly in love with my girlfriend, and had a very different opinion about love in general.

If you really believe you will never love somebody. You never will.



That would probably be 99% accurate. [The 1% are people who think they know what love is but don't have a clue]

Who says love is rational?
Try not to think about it rationally.

I can't...it's hard to imagine the world without love...only wish there was more of it

So... Love is no different to like?



Attention seeker? Does my profile really look like that of an attention seeker? Does it really look like I'm dismissing things people post here simply because I don't agree? Did I say I feel no emotion, that emotion is for the weak? Have I not clearly stated I wanted reasons on said topic and that it wasn't supposed to be about me? If anything, you're the one seeking attention by posting something irrelevent. Don't get offended, just my opinion, see.



Yeah, thanks for the english lesson. Thing is, I chose lower case on purpose, so if you don't mind I'm sticking to 'chaostrom' with a small 'c'.



Hm, yes, for many younger teenagers it is BS, but I'm long past sixteen years of age, and it's not that I don't believe I'll ever love, I haven't felt it yet. Not what everyone else says it is anyway (walking on air and all that ).



I don't know why you would want more of it... As I've said, it doesn't seem to serve much of a purpose...

Come on people! Reasons! I don't want 'love is this, this, and this' sort of thing, there are countless poems, songs, books and such on it that I can look up myself without bothering all of you's! Stop directing it at me and post some reasons why love is so great! I've posted why love doesn't seem to be a great deal and despite the fact many of you seem to disagree none of you have given me any specific reasons! Come on!

Everyone consider love as heart.. we can live our life with a pace maker also.. how healthy it will be...!

Everything we have two in our body... but heart alone one!

Well you just gotta find the right person.


Not everything needs a purpose. Hate, sadness, etc none have any real purpose. Love is no different.

Reasons to Love:
Actually, I can't think of any... well, it made me more complete, gave me something to live for when I had nothing else.

Actually we have just the one brain, and only one stomach, not to mention the tongue, liver, spleen...



I wonder...

1. Will there even be the 'right' person for me, and...
2. Why does this keep circling back to me? It ain't supposed to be about me.



Hmm... You got me there! So it's a motivator, along with other emotions?



You actually went on to try to give me a reason! Finally! Even though you didn't have any

So... It gave you something to live for... Based on your post I could just conclude that emotions are nothing more than motivators with no real purpose otherwise, but... Nah, I wanna see what others have to say Anyone else care to try to post their reasons, even if you don't have one?

Brain.. consious brain and smaller brain.. subconsious.. smaller inner tounge and outer tounge.. if i am right there is two stomach too..

If you're going that a way I could argue that there are two hearts, the one that pumps blood and the one that pumps emotion But we're starting to get off topic here.

Ok, i didn't mean that love is no different from liking something, although that is basically what my post said, i just mean the line between liking something and loving something is thin.

Love to me is my wife, i love my wife, even when we argue, i'm not really mad at her. love lets me know that everything will be okay, no matter how bad things get at least i have my wife who loves me. i love other things to, i am a web designer, so i love graphic art and design. No matter what happens i will still enjoy that, not having the ability to do design wouldn't hinder my enjoyment of it. The love for my wife will never change, no matter what happens between us there would always be a place in my heart for her. i guess love to me is a never ending desire, for enjoyment, companionship.
So i guess if you find desire to be a less than desireable trait then maybe love just doesn't mean that to you.

Sounds like there's a very thin line between like and love... If you had to differentiate between the two, how would you do it? By all accounts simple enjoyment is not the same as love, so I'm somewhat confused as to what you're trying to get across there...

I like most of their post.. because i love this topic..