Purpose of Love

[Obbe]

I've been sitting here naked on the floor, hacking up all sorts of fluids, and I've been thinking about the world and thinking about its people. And the desires and dreams and goals all these people have.

Many people, including myself, chase love. As something permanent, a lasting happiness, something to fight loneliness. Sometimes we go so far as to think of love as the purpose behind everything, the point of all of this; to feel good.

But, of course ... those are just lies we tell ourselves. Love has no purpose, it's just something nice. It comes and goes, it changes like everything else. Love is a season. It is the day, but following close behind it is the night.

Don't obsess over love; don't obsess over anything. Life is not permanent or stable, and neither is love. To be addicted to one part of life, like love, is to miss out on all the rest - and eventually that addiction of yours will leave you, and you will feel alone and empty without it.

Instead, enjoy everything as it comes to you. Accept when it leaves. Accept the flow and the changes of life, and you will be able to find happiness throughout it all. Love must be forgotten, but life can always start up new.

[Cathy McGee]

this reminds me of a quote i read in one of oshos books, where he says everything is like the wind...it keeps moving and passes on, and that we should be like the wind, not to get attached to any one thing but just to move on over everything and live.

(i like your nakedness lol i hope your feeling better.)

[Obbe]

Thanks. A goddess has left my life, but life goes on.

[Struwwelpeter]

purpose of love = bond two humans together long enough to raise children

[Built To Last]

Instead, enjoy everything as it comes to you. Accept when it leaves. Accept the flow and the changes of life, and you will be able to find happiness throughout it all. Love must be forgotten, but life can always start up new.

With this realization we can find much beauty in that which is temporal.

[ArmsMerchant]

Love is not something to be chased--it is something to be chosen.

[Obbe]

Sure but you can't choose the cards you're dealt; only how you play the game.

[Butcher]

Love is not something to be chased--it is something to be chosen.

What about people unable to feel love, such as psychopaths?

I imagine you'll reply to this by saying that anyone can feel love if they just try, but in all the studies of psychopathy, there has never been a case of a psychopath being "cured". What say you now?

[Giggles The Panda]

purpose of love = bond two humans together long enough to raise children

This. Not to be too cynical but love is just an illusion used to further the species. But that doesnt mean people dont feel it.

[Obbe]

And I don't disagree. Well, actually, I would say that love has no purpose ... you could say its purpose is to ensure the survival of the species, but I don't think it really is. Survival has no purpose either.

I agree that yes, you could simplify love down to mere biological processes, chemical reactions and what not. But I don't see why that matters. Yes, people feel it; and it feels great.

And it comes and goes, like everything else.

[Marijuanasaurus]

This reminds me of one time i got wasted. It had nothing to do with love, i was just naked on the floor hacking up all kinds of fluids.

[ArmsMerchant]

purpose of love = bond two humans together long enough to raise children

Going by your impeccible logic, then, I have no purpose for loving, having had a vasectomy before I reproduced.

Since I'm one of the people you would like to see exterminated, the fact that I cannot reproduce should cheer you up , at least.

[Struwwelpeter]

What makes you think I want you exterminated? Cheer up, miserable old slugger.

[Thecosmicexplosion]

We are but vessels, Love is the fuel.


One thing remains true in all of the less accepting posts here, You are not being with what is, Stop sleeping with yourself man, that's just jerking off

[Sleep Is A Curse]

Love is

[Butcher]

Love is

no u

[HowlinJayByrd]

Women were born nesters and child bearers by instinct and men were born hunters and breeders by instinct, in my opinion. Love just connects the two, just a false reality of one belonging to another for survival. No such thing as only one love, false reality!

[Akagi]

Going by your impeccible logic, then, I have no purpose for loving, having had a vasectomy before I reproduced.

It doesn't work like that.

Becoming sterilized doesn't remove the underlying biological reproductive instincts.

[Nero]

Funny how you only ever hear single people take that viewpoint.

You're not happy, being lonely is not okay. Stop making excuses. :mad:

[Akagi]

You're not happy, being lonely is not okay. Stop making excuses. :mad:

There's a difference between being alone and being lonely. I've been alone most my life, but I'm not lonely. Some people don't require other people in order to validate their existence. Some people can happy regardless of their relationship status.

[Resign the King]

There's a difference between being alone and being lonely. I've been alone most my life, but I'm not lonely. Some people don't require other people in order to validate their existence. Some people can happy regardless of their relationship status.

I agree when we were children we did just fine. There are more important things than a love life. I would be content my whole life without a partner as long as I could still read and still use my senses to explore the world. Though if there are any ladies out there drop me a PM ;).

[BrokeProphet]

Thanks. A goddess has left my life, but life goes on.

Did you tell her she wasn't real, that nothing was...

Suprised she didn't stick around.

[i poop in your cereal]

Breeding.

[Obbe]

Did you tell her she wasn't real, that nothing was...

Suprised she didn't stick around.

We only talked about that sort of stuff while tripping. She had already come to the same basic conclusions as me, but we didn't sit around talking about our meaningless opinions about life and reality like you and I do on the forum. We were together to have fun Broke.

We had lots of fun together.

Breeding.

Yes, breeding is also purposeless.

[Ambient]

Mmm.

I think you needed to define love, because when you say love we could all be thinking different things which is not fruitfull for establishing the purpose of love.

I think you, like many see love as romance.

In regards to romantic love i believe love is a quality of reality, manifest through subjective existance- percievable by those who have perception.

So romantic love is just a shared experience of reality through love; although it is somewhat selfish because many who are in a romantic relationship will be thinking "this love is only for me and you".

Its not true love, although i think there is such thing as true romantic love.

[skinny love]

the purpose of love is not breeding. that would be the role of lust. love, on the other hand, can be a few different things depending on your perspective. a scientist would argue that it is simply chemicals in your brain and that's true. a religious man would argue that it is one soul living in two bodies, and that is also true. but love is an anchor, it keeps us anchored to this world. the purpose of life is to love, and the purpose of love is to live. or maybe i'm just too damn high.

[Butcher]

^ do you believe animals other than humans can feel love?

[skinny love]

is that directed to me? i couldn't tell you. i'm just talking from my limited experience, and i don't have much experience as another animal :p

if i had to guess, i would say yes some animals do feel love but in a slightly more primitive and predictable way.

[Ambient]

^ do you believe animals other than humans can feel love?

Absolutly they can!

But absolutly they do not know it love they are feeling.

When you ask yourself, what is the difference between non-human animals and human animals?

The fundamental answer is awareness.

p.s humans are animals (biologically speaking we belong to the biological kingdom animalea, as opposed to plantae, fungi, protista, monera)

[Obbe]

Love feels great, but it serves no purpose. Everything is purposeless, nothing is wrong with that.

[Agent 008]

Love feels great, but it serves no purpose. Everything is purposeless, nothing is wrong with that.

The fact that nothing is important, nothing really matters is awesome. It means that you can come up with whatever concept you like that makes your life better / makes you feel better - since it doesn't matter if it's actually true or not.

You can chose to believe that you're the "chosen one". That your path is the path of the righteous man. That you can achieve anything you like, because God is backing you and will help you find the power to do so. That you have luck on your side.
Whatever you like. It doesn't matter as long as it helps you, makes your character stronger, or just makes you enjoy life more.

[Agent 008]

Absolutly they can!

But absolutly they do not know it love they are feeling.

When you ask yourself, what is the difference between non-human animals and human animals?

The fundamental answer is awareness.

p.s humans are animals (biologically speaking we belong to the biological kingdom animalea, as opposed to plantae, fungi, protista, monera)

How do you know that non-human animals don't have awareness?

In fact, given a black box that can receive some input and produce some output (e.g. human or animal brains are such black boxes), how could you know if the black box has awareness and consciousness or not?

[Other Side of the Pillow]

This thread reminds me of a song:

Love Ain't
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0O-MlxWi6M&feature=related

Lyrics
http://www.lyricsdownload.com/cunninlynguists-f-tonedeff-love-ain-t-lyrics.html

[ArmsMerchant]

What about people unable to feel love, such as psychopaths?

I imagine you'll reply to this by saying that anyone can feel love if they just try, but in all the studies of psychopathy, there has never been a case of a psychopath being "cured". What say you now?

I think you mean "sociopath"--anyway, what about them? I think it is generally accepted that when we talk about things like love, we are talking about people who are pretty much playing with a full deck, as opposed to the miniscule proportion of humanity who are all bent and twisted..

[Centipede2]

Love is permanent, imo, and incredibly stable - for me one of the most stable things in the world. It's the love you give and not the love you chase. If you've happen to read about positive psychology you'd see that some of the most grand emotions on the scale of all human emotions are love and gratitude, and these are the few to be increased in everyday life to promote human happiness. Selflessness, empathy, understanding, insight, flow - all of these to me are basically love. You have an infinite supply of love locked in your heart.

I think the world needs more of it, and of course "the love you get is equal to the love you give." :D

<3

[BLACKCOCKLOVER]

Love is what happens when a white woman sees a black cock for the first time

[Thecosmicexplosion]

I love greyfox i read your words man.

[danmega]

BABY DONT HURT MEEEH DONT HURT MEEH NO MOOOORE!!!loils
^ignore
Love is what holds us to together, the very bond keeping atoms together at the molecular level is love, same as what (tries) to keep families, friendships and even nations together. Obviously there are a million and a one different versions of love, but at it's core, I believe it could be defined as "a stable bond or connection"

[Ambient]

How do you know that non-human animals don't have awareness?

In fact, given a black box that can receive some input and produce some output (e.g. human or animal brains are such black boxes), how could you know if the black box has awareness and consciousness or not?

I dont know about black boxes, im not sure conscious life can be made a simile of that easily.
real
But if i had to choose one of many reasons.

It would be the causual relationships between consciousness and communication.

You can see amongst the human species, we are all conscious beings capable of awareness and clarification. But not all of has have full realization of reality, we only understand certain aspects, and realize even less.

So how to you know a the quality of an individuals awareness?

You cannot speclate on the matter, only observe communication and use that to percieve the quality of someones consciousness.

Without communication, we cannot truely know.

As a vegerterian that believes in biological evolution; i would have to say this awareness and consciousness did not appear overnight; it was gradual and so there is similarly great diversity within the animal kingdom, they share some similar qualities as humans, some dont. But none of them have all the qualities of humans including the qualities of humans as i have demonstrated previously through communication.

So obviously various animals have the ability of awareness to a relative degree. And obviously if you believe in evolution you would understand that if the same curcumstances presented themselves that lead to the evolution of humans, especialy circumstances that result in cultural and communicational evolution; you have to respect where our anscestors have been, were we are going aswell as that path in other species. I wouldnt eat my brother or my dog, so i dont eat members of the animal kingdom., because i believe in this potential/ability/quality of reality.

If you want to get into the whole plant kingdom, and then fungi and protista and monera; then thats a whole other story, if you wish to pull that plants have feelings to shit.

[PirateJoe]

I
Without communication, we cannot truely know.



Actually, we can!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-awareness#Self-awareness_in_animals

[i poop in your cereal]

Yes, breeding is also purposeless.

You don't know that.

[Obbe]

The fact that nothing is important, nothing really matters is awesome. It means that you can come up with whatever concept you like that makes your life better / makes you feel better - since it doesn't matter if it's actually true or not.

You can chose to believe that you're the "chosen one". That your path is the path of the righteous man. That you can achieve anything you like, because God is backing you and will help you find the power to do so. That you have luck on your side.
Whatever you like. It doesn't matter as long as it helps you, makes your character stronger, or just makes you enjoy life more.

Yep.

[Obbe]

You don't know that.

Nope, I sure don't.

But I see no reason to believe it serves a purpose.

[Agent 008]

This Taoist quote is somewhat relevant - I quite like this one so I hope you would too:

"Followers of the Way, if you wish to see this Dharma clearly, do not let yourselves be deceived. Whether you turn to the outside or to the inside, whatever you encounter, kill it. If you meet the Buddha, kill the Buddha; if you meet the patriarchs, kill the patriarchs; if you meet Arhats, kill Arhats; if you meet your parents, kill your parents; if you meet your relatives, kill your relatives; then for the first time you will see clearly. And if you do not depend on things, there is deliverance, there is freedom!


These students of the Way who come from all over - there's never been one of them who didn't appear before me depending on something. So I start out by hitting them there. If they come with a raised hand, I hit the raised hand. If they come mouthing something, I hit them in the mouth. If they come making motions with their eyes, I hit them in the eye.

I have yet to find one who comes alone and free. They're all caught up in the idle devices of the men of old."

[tehporp]

Love is the only sane answer to the problem of human existence.

[Nachismo]

Love is the expression of the attractive force in the universe. The feeling is evoked when one is involved in something positive and constructive.

I think the greeks showed an good understanding love. They had some different words for it; eros, philos, and agape.

Eros describes love associated with strong desire. It is manifest erotically and sensually. This love is often the result of infatuation. It is usually sexual in nature. This love is kind of selfish in that it is in large part based on meeting one's own needs. It is temporary because it is limited by the ability of desire to support it. It is usefull because it can lead to eventually learning to appreciate the beauty inherant in each person.

Philos describes love associated with the bounds of relationships. It is the love expressed through family and friendship. It can also be used talking about activities you love doing. It is limited by the conditions of the relationship. It encourages one to develope the virtues.

Agape can be used to describe the love of god. It is unconditional and a consuming love that one feels when they can percieve the unity of all things.
Agape feels incredible and consumes those who experience it. It grows one spiritually.

Often I've wondered if Atheists are capable of experiancing agape. It would be difficult if you didn't believe in some sort of metaphysical underpinnings. If they could experiance agape this alone would probably be enough for them to open up their minds a little.

[Miaow]

It's science fiction written by mother nature.

The moral of the story is 'THE RACE MUST CONTINUE. THE RACE MUST CONTINUE :mad:'

[Rizzo in a box]

Heaven has reason which no mortal can conceive of.

[MetaThink18]

Love is the suspension of the ego; the ability to fully lose your ego and strive for unity with one (or more, if you are polyamorous) person. It is pure joy at another person's existence, and a deep desire and drive to care for the other person.

That being said, sex, lust, passion also play into the concept of love. Brain chemistry, reproduction, and other biological factors are also important to mention.

I don't think most couples I know are truly in love, but are still fairly happy with the other person.

In my personal experience, I have always "bashed" love when broken-hearted/single, but have glamorized it when in a relationship.

Like everything else in life, it is both good and bad - both destructive and overwhelmingly beautiful.

[Terrestrial Mass]

Love is merely an advanced evolutionary stage of the libido

[Vizier]

Humans have mating season all year round. Reproduction, as simple as it gets.

[Syphilis]

Love doesn't exist.

It's simply another word for affection or attraction. There is no difference. "Love" is just another word.

[Rizzo in a box]

Love doesn't exist.

It's simply another word for affection or attraction. There is no difference. "Love" is just another word.

"In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God..."

"God is love..."

Love, therefore, is not just A word but is in fact the only word there is.

[vnorberto]

god =/= love, retard.

god = evil.

[Rizzo in a box]

god =/= love, retard.

god = evil.

At least my argument was theologically plausible, if not esoterically yet incoherently spot feckin' on.

You're just making stuff up.

[vnorberto]

At least my argument was theologically plausible, if not esoterically yet incoherently spot feckin' on.

You're just making stuff up.

In your terms, define god, and define love.

[Rizzo in a box]

In your terms, define god, and define love.

How can I? Giving a definition would be an act of love, and the one who defines is god. It's too self-referential, it's a paradox for people who love to get confused with words. Stop talking to yourself.

[vnorberto]

you are way to complex for me dude, may god(evil) bless your soul.

[Rizzo in a box]

you are way to complex for me dude, may god(evil) bless your soul.

It's easy to understand, just forget everything.

[Obbe]

Humans have mating season all year round. Reproduction, as simple as it gets.

It's not about the reproduction (purpose/work) - it's all about the sex (play/fun). ;)