Now really, love is something so beyond our understanding isnt it? Love is just touch, feel, hug. The flow of energey and "liking" of two beings, bodies, people.

Like it all comes down to being loved, being accepted, you know? Its like the whole world is just based on love, you know having to love someone and someone loving you, accepting you for who you are. Hugging you giving you positive energy. Its all about love, the point of life, I think its for love, to be loved and love.

Eh love.... Well just a thought there hehe [img]smile.gif[/img] .

Well, I am certaintly no expert on love, but you do have a very valid point there.

The point to life is to love. Of course that may vary between diffrent things.

and to love is to accept. to love her no matter what, to love her for who she is, and to love her because she is in my life. give the best to her and think the best of her, nurture her, praise her, forgive her, miss her, hug her, be with her, cry with her, laugh with her, watch her struggle, watch her succeed, give her wings, send her winds so that she can fly, so that love can fly. love everything she is with everything I have, thats what I know about love.

<font color="lightgreen">I agree completly. If we did understand love, then we wouldnt experience it as we do. It would not be such a special thing if we knew exactly what it was about.
Touching, Kissing, Having Sex, Hugging, etc. are simply ways of expressing love. They are not love itself, because love is not a physical thing. Love is pure emotion, and without it we would not be what we are. Without it, we would be simple organisms, we would be less than what sme describe as 'animals'. We would be nothing without love.</font>

Heh, I am no expert on love too :D

From my experience, the hardest love to cultivate and sustain is romantic love. It's easier to love your family, friends (in a non-romantic sense) and other cute/cuddly animals, cos chances are, they wouldn't intentionally hurt you.

But romantic love... it's a bit too risky [img]tongue.gif[/img] You can't have known the person for too long, or the spark wouldn't be there... and since you don't know the person that well, there's a likelihood that you're blinded by the initial crush and fail to notice the incompatibility until it's too late :(

Yeah, I know... I'm a pessimist ;) Bad experiences really haven't helped to improve my outlook :D

As I've heard it phrased before. Love is no different than large quantities of chocolate.

Love Sucks!


Lord of the broken hearted Killjoy

OK, here's a tough question.

Do you think that love is confined to humans, or do other creatures experience similar emotions? I was sceptical about animal emotions until I started studying parrots in depth (LOL, I am parrot mad!).

Most parrot species form a pair-bond for life (between 15 and 90 years depending on species). They won't bond with just any old bird that they come across - they choose their mate, and even form life-bonds with birds of different species or the same sex when those of opposite sex of their own species are abundant - so it is not just about reproduction. Parrots seem to take an instant like (or dislike) to some birds (love at first sight?), whereas other individuals they warm to slowly. If they are parted, they pine, even to the point of not eating, drinking or preening. If a parrots mate is injured, the healthy bird will sit with his mate, or even try to drive off predators. He will sit with his 'love' until she dies, feeding her until she can no longer take food. Often he will join her because in his grief he will not eat. I can see that there are some evolutionary advantages in bonding for life - parrots have to breed very quickly in rainy seasons, so having a mate ready speeds up the process. But grieving and pining for a lost mate doesn't seem to have any advantage.

Is this love? I was sceptical, but now having more experience with parrots I believe that some of their emotions come very close to ours. Incidentally, they are the most intelligent birds, studies have shown that many species of parrot have the cognitive ability of a 5 year old human child - this intelligence is due in part to the fact that, like humans, they can manipulate objects with opposable digits (2 front toes and 2 rear, most birds have 3 front toes, 1 rear and cannot grip objects as well) and can use basic tools - tool use amongst parrots has been documented in the wild. They also display behaviours which could be described as jealousy (this is taken to the extreme in some birds), they sulk when upset, they remember events for a very long time, and they are very long-lived (so memory plays an important role in survival)

Elephants have been observed visiting the bones of dead relatives and caressing the bones - years after their death - again they supposedly have long memories, which I think is a factor. Is this love? There is some driving force behind this behaviour.

Primates also exhibit similar behaviour which does not seem to be relevant to survival.

Just wondered what people thought!

Hmm, personaly I dont think animals experince love. They may like one over another, or enjoy somones company alot.

But I doubt they experince love the same way Humans do. Why? Because I think love comes from the soul.

And I dont think animals have souls.

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Grand-Ranger:
Hmm, personaly I dont think animals experince love. They may like one over another, or enjoy somones company alot.

But I doubt they experince love the same way Humans do. Why? Because I think love comes from the soul.

And I dont think animals have souls.<hr></blockquote>

But then I don't think humans have souls. That doesn't mean we can't love.