Question

The whole 'love is a feeling brought on by the secretion of chemicals in your mind' argument is an interesting one to be sure. For logical, left-side thinkers, it's great because it brings the most intangible, irrational (or so some people think) feeling, love, to an objective light. The study that shows the feeling of 'love' while in a long-term relationship comes from secretions of oxytocin and lust being seratonin is very objective and hard to argue, but it makes love seem non-arbitrary. There are many cases in which arbitrariness is terrible (for example, the law. The Supreme Court's main purpose, in my opinion, is to reduce arbitrariness in legislation). But I think that love is something that is very arbitrary and is impossible to be explained in tangible, logical terms that left-side thinkers so wish would happen.

I'm a strong believer that love is something you feel and just know. Every time someone feels it, is there always oxytocin in their minds? Maybe there are seratonin shots in our head when we feel like we actually love someone instead of just lusting over them. It's a ridiculous idea to think that one can know if someone is in love or lust by knowing which chemical is being secreted into the mind when they think of this person when we don't even know ourselves many times! And how does a scientist distinguish between love and lust? There's a very fine line somewhere in the eternal blur in between lust and love, and I find it ridiculous that scientists (or anyone, for that matter) has found it.

Had to get that out there. xD

NOW.. pertaining to the original question, I believe that it is possible to have strong feelings for two people at the same time. But I don't think your whole heart can belong to one of them. In fact... after the first true love, I don't really think your whole heart can belong to anybody else.. but that is just me.

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Originally Posted by vashti

You don't have to inject anyone with anything. They are produced automatically by the body under the right circumstances. Incidentally, oxytocin is produced naturally during orgasm, the same chemical which enhances the feeling of connection in long term relationships.

Not that I'd expect you to "buy" into this. After all, it is mere science. ;)

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Oh no, if it's written by someone who calls him/her self a scientist then I have no choice but to buy into it. After all people like that have an answer for everything don't they? ;)

In any case, so let's say you want someone to be in love and the oxypoxy is not being produced by that person's body, so if you simply inject him /her with that chemical he'll fall in love straight away and will stay in love with a random person for as long as that chemical is present? Kinda like a cupid arrow??? :)

If he doesn't fall in love straight away and stay in love does this mean (Oh My God) maybe that the presence of this chemical in the body doesn't straight away = LOVE??? :)

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Originally Posted by Prodigal

The whole 'love is a feeling brought on by the secretion of chemicals in your mind' argument is an interesting one to be sure. For logical, left-side thinkers, it's great because it brings the most intangible, irrational (or so some people think) feeling, love, to an objective light. The study that shows the feeling of 'love' while in a long-term relationship comes from secretions of oxytocin and lust being seratonin is very objective and hard to argue, but it makes love seem non-arbitrary. There are many cases in which arbitrariness is terrible (for example, the law. The Supreme Court's main purpose, in my opinion, is to reduce arbitrariness in legislation). But I think that love is something that is very arbitrary and is impossible to be explained in tangible, logical terms that left-side thinkers so wish would happen.

I'm a strong believer that love is something you feel and just know. Every time someone feels it, is there always oxytocin in their minds? Maybe there are seratonin shots in our head when we feel like we actually love someone instead of just lusting over them. It's a ridiculous idea to think that one can know if someone is in love or lust by knowing which chemical is being secreted into the mind when they think of this person when we don't even know ourselves many times! And how does a scientist distinguish between love and lust? There's a very fine line somewhere in the eternal blur in between lust and love, and I find it ridiculous that scientists (or anyone, for that matter) has found it.

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They didn't try to distinguish between love and lust, but rather measured the chemicals depending on the length of the relationship. They did not address the "arbitrary" aspect of love at all, meaning they did not attempt to explain why you feel it for some people, and not for others, except to say that oxytocin is produced through orgasm, which contributes to feelings of attachment. Interestingly, when they blocked the receptors for oxytocin in whatever animal it is that mates for life, that animal was no longer interested in being monogamous. (I can't remember which animal it was, though.)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Prodigal

I'm a strong believer that love is something you feel and just know. Every time someone feels it, is there always oxytocin in their minds? Maybe there are seratonin shots in our head when we feel like we actually love someone instead of just lusting over them. It's a ridiculous idea to think that one can know if someone is in love or lust by knowing which chemical is being secreted into the mind when they think of this person when we don't even know ourselves many times! And how does a scientist distinguish between love and lust?

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Hi Prodigal, I subscribe to the same line of thought as you. That, if there is a chemical such as oxytocin that helps us bond with our partner, present inside a body when we are with our SOs, it is a chemical consciously/subconsciously released into our body when we on a conscious or subconscious level acknowledge that the partner is right for us. The sudden appearance of this chemical in a body (In a form of injection for example), does not translate into injected person automatically being in love. In this case, once again the chemical inside our bodies would be determined on a conscious or a subconscious level.

We are not slaves to chemicals. We are slaves only to our hearts and minds :D

P.S. By the way Synthetic oxytocin is sold as medication under the trade names Pitocin and Syntocinon (Their only use is to help out during the child labour) if anyone's interested :)

over the counter???????????????????

No - not over the counter. Synthetic oxytocins are used to help either induce or speed up labor, which is one of the times the peripheral body naturally produces oxytocin. It helps produce dilation of the cervix and causes milk letdown in lactating women.

However, the article I was referring to discusses oxytocin's impact on brain function, which includes sexual arousal, maternal behaviors, anxiety levels, and of course, romantic bonding. The article also sites low levels of oxytocin being suspected as a cause of autism, which is marked by a lack of ability to form normal human attachments.

Anyway, the article is descriptive, meaning it describes what measurable impact love has on the brain. It does not attempt to describe why it has this impact. This is objective science, not speculation.

Wow - do they test for low levels?

I should put all my perspective suitors through a test - do you have low levels of oxytocin. If yes, then I know.....move on! ha ah.

Good idea!! You should try to read the article - it was quite fascinating.

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Originally Posted by vashti

Good idea!! You should try to read the article - it was quite fascinating.

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Do you have a link to it?

[url]http://www7.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0602/feature2/multimedia.html[/url]

If the link doesn't work, just look up the Natinoal Geographic magazine website. It was in the February 2006 issue.