Guys. Love is a battlefield. End of debate

*runs off and stops spamming*

Life is a perpetual struggle between:



and

And above, you can see the cynics contributing to the discussion.

Wow. I think I was seriously misinterpreted.

When I say "love," I mean it in its broadest sense. Not just romantic love between two people. "Love" can be attachment to anything. Like the love between a parent and a child. Or the love between friends. I would argue those loves are completely different than romantic love. Perhaps a man's attachment to a particularly useful tool can be classified as love. We think of romance as the only kind of love because that is often brings the strongest emotions. I think if you would mourn the loss of something/someone, you love it/him/her. Two individuals can be in an unhealthy and abusive relationship and still be in love.

Dabs, I didn't say you don't what love is at all. Based on what you said, I'd say you have a pretty good sense of what romantic love is - or at least of what one sort of romantic love is, for I'm sure romantic relationships can feel different. I said you don't know what all the possible loves feel like, because - I'm assuming - you aren't a parent, you haven't been in an abusive relationship, etc.

Perhaps what I'm trying to say is that the term "love" is too vague. Love describes way too many emotions and scenarios. That is why you can't dismiss a relationship as "true love" or "false love."

Originally Posted by 2sh4r That is why you can't dismiss a relationship as "true love" or "false love."

So I'm unclear on why this is a debate. You asked for definitions. We'll offer from what we know. We aren't gods (eh, God himself probably hasn't experienced all forms of love). But if not being gods invalidates our definitions, how we gonna talk?
If you're looking for support for your view.... dude, get a blog.

Originally Posted by 2sh4r I would argue those loves are completely different than romantic love.

Disagree with this; I'm with Dabs. There's a common theme to "love". It's got a thousand types-- I'd argue that there are as many types of love as there are combinations of people on earth. But there are no strong boundaries. Where does friendship end and romantic love begin? When does my love for my sister become parental? What if my mother is my friend?

I'd also argue that >90% of love can be termed in circumstances, evolution & physiology. (100% psychology because generally at least one party has a mind. 100% biology because generally at least one party is alive.)

Originally Posted by lostbookworm And above, you can see the cynics contributing to the discussion.

Common misconception: I'm a skeptic.

Originally Posted by lalodragon Disagree with this; I'm with Dabs. There's a common theme to "love". It's got a thousand types-- I'd argue that there are as many types of love as there are combinations of people on earth. But there are no strong boundaries. Where does friendship end and romantic love begin? When does my love for my sister become parental? What if my mother is my friend?

Or, you know. Incest. As I said, love has many variations, but it all comes down to the same things.

Cynic, skeptic, who cares? It's all semantics.

So I'm unclear on why this is a debate. You asked for definitions. We'll offer from what we know. We aren't gods (eh, God himself probably hasn't experienced all forms of love). But if not being gods invalidates our definitions, how we gonna talk? If you're looking for support for your view.... dude, get a blog.

lol, fair point.

Fine, I was being unfair before.

Perhaps I should take a different approach to this debate.

If you've got a little free time, take a few minutes and read this story: http://www.utdallas.edu/~aargyros/the_chaser.htm

It can't be more than a 1000 words.

According to your definition of love, is the main character Alan Austen really in love?