Searching for a soul mate
(Proud Protestations: Why we hold out for that one true love)
Sophocles, ancient Greek writer of tragedies, “One word frees us from all the weight and pain of life: That word is love.”
Lao Tzu, ancient Chinese philosopher, “Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength. While loving someone deeply gives you courage.”
Erich Fromm, American social psychologist, “Love is the only sane and satisfactory answer to the problem of human existence.”
Elizabeth Barrett Browning, British poet, “Love doesn’t make the world go round, love is what makes the ride worthwhile.”
What is love anyway? As demonstrated by my small collection of quotes, one can see that poets, writers, scientists, philosophers have pondered this special topic, and I dare say, endlessly throughout time, since ancient civilizations anyway. We even have a dedicated (commercialized) holiday (sadly, non-Federal) we all know as Valentine’s Day.
It is common knowledge that love is a feeling, an emotion, and something definitely metaphysical. We don’t need Merriam-Webster to define it for us. Yet for further explanation, we need scholars to enlighten us on the complexities of this worda noun, verb, and an adjective depending on the context.
Imagine your eyes lock with that special someone, your pulse turns erratic, your breathing becomes shallow, your body begins to warm up, oh and is that music in the distance, time disappears and so does your surroundings, as far as you know, it’s just you and that perfect someone. Privacy would be very nice indeed.
Whoa, hold on there, how do you know that it’s the real thing? How can you be certain?
Luckily for us, science likes to be certain and because of which we know more about love now than a generation ago as neurologists, psychologists, biologists, anthropologists and scientists from other disciplines examine and research that thing that makes the world go round. One such research is by Geoffrey Miller, an assistant professor in University of New Mexico’s psychology department, authored an academic paper with Peter Todd, professor of informatics, cognitive science, and psychology in Indiana University, on mate choice. Unquestionably a sexy thesis.
Their paper covers a multitude of areas underscoring the “evolutionary effects” of choosing one’s partner. The evolutionary result is tremendous! The variety of species that has lived in this planet is inconceivable and we can thank choosing the right mate, along with
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