Friday, July 08, 2005
Whtat's love got to do, got to do with it?
"Love can neither be created nor destroyed. You merely shift your attention from place to place, person to person. So the more you love somthing, the less you love others." - food for thought from Tzuie
I was pondering over this for a while, when i was reminded of my entry (Monday, August 30, 2004) on Love and neurotransmitters. I still firmly stick to my theory that love is but an emotion, and emotions are a combination of chemicals, neurotransmittors and neuronal firing and so ultimately, love is just a combination of Molecules. Judging from the responses to that entry, I know many people are aghast at my blaphemous theory. But as one of them grudgingly agreed, if a person did not exist, you wouldn't have any neurons or neurotransmitters and hence, love wouldn't exist. Love can't exist independent of a person. So in a way, we create love because we need to synthesize the molecules that make up this emotion.
Before you declare me to be as romantic as Frankenstein on a dream date, I'd like to reemphasize that although i can quantify this emotion scientifically, it is still a mystery in many aspects. The full extent of the functions of the human brain has yet to be elucidated. So likewise, my simple theory may be a grain of salt in a huge process that gives rise to the actual manifestation of love. I believe that there is a spiritual side to this emotion. Because how do you explain the different kinds of love we feel for each individual in this world. How do you explain maternal love, or love for our significant others, love for our pet, love for the environment, love for a music? Different combinations of chemicals? You can't classify love, neither can you study it. So in going back to the quote, i'd say love is limitless. You are not born into this world with a limited amount of "love" points. You are not obliged to choose a select few to allocate these points to. ( ok, mebbe in terms of choosing a partner, you need too, unless you plan on having a couple of concurrent lovers) . I don' t think taking on a new hobby or love is gonna diminish the love you have for your family or your spouses. Or even getting a new girl/boy friend shouldn't change your love for your bro/sister / parents.
Perhaps it would be more practical to say that we are limited in our expression of love coz we are limited by time and energy to show someone we love them. THe creation and destruction of love is taken care of by our bodies.. by our enzymes. ( that's on a micro level). If we humans only had a limited amount of love to offer someone, there would have never been a Buddha, or a Mother Theresa, or Mohammad Gandhi...
So before my skeptics go " uh huh! XL's gonna change her tune now she's in love" , i'm still sticking with my theory, cynical , cold and totally unromantic as it may be. I'm not trivialising love, i'm just asking pple to just scrutinize it at its most basic level. But even if i am aware that my neurons are simply swimming in this pool of neurotransmitters and electric potentials in order to create this emotion, let me just say this ... i don't deny that the feeling's GREAT!!!!
