In my opinion, he is at least in love with the idea of being with Diana, if not in love with Diana herself. He is so attached to being with idea that he is willing to do almost anything to get it. Under my own, personal broad definition of love, that counts.

Love is when the blankets are the perfect temperature and you don't have to do the half in half out of bed thing.

Everyone else can go home now I have figured out what love is.

Originally Posted by Infinity_Man Guys. Love is a battlefield. End of debate *runs off and stops spamming*

Yes, Man, love is a battlefield, but such kind of battles does not diminish the number of people, but, vice versa, provides steady increase. ha ha ha! End of story.

Firstly, can we at least agree that no matter how much we romanticise it, love is definitely some kind of evolutionary attribute that we've evolved because it offers us some advantage?
Technically we're meant to say that love is an evolutionary advantage in order to reproduce, but that doesn't really explain family love, homosexual love and religious love and so on. According to Religion for Atheists then the reason we have religion and love and so on is actually to force us to form communities instead of giving into our primal instincts to kill every human within two miles, because communities are more advantageous in the long run. Even though romantic love is generally about reproducing as well (though if it was totally about reproducing, the moment you knew someone was infertile, you'd go right off them), this is still a major part of it, otherwise the whole sex addict thing wouldn't have stigma- by being a sex addict, people are saying to society that they have no particular interest in community.Therefore by that logic, Alan isn't in love with Diana because he isn't interested in forming a community with her, he's just interested in changing who she is. Which implies he's kinda more attracted to her sexually than in love with her. I dunno.

In my opinion, he is at least in love with the idea of being with Diana, if not in love with Diana herself.

Sure, but everyone's interested in the idea of being in love, because grown ups put so much pressure on being in love, you're condemned if you're interested in any other kind of relationship. Six year olds imagine what it will be like being in love some day.
Then again, the main confusing aspect of this debate is that most people tend to brush over their partner's bad habits in their head anyway, so is Alan just admitting openly that Diana has what he would call a bad habit in that she doesn't love him? Does that just make him more honest to himself, or does it make him the equivalent of the creep who tried to spike your drink?

And yeah, I get that I sound really stuck up and arrogant. Sorry!

In my opinion, true love is not an emotion. The feeling you get is passion. But I believe that love is something you choose to do. (Now, I know I'm going against pretty much the whole world here)

Love is patient. If you really love someone, you'll wait for him/her. Love is not selfish. You care for the person more than yourself and want what is best for them. Love is enduring. Though feelings will fade at some point, love will not end.

That's to name a few points.

I don't want any repulsive comebacks or anything of the sort. Let's stay friendly, shall we?

I had a very long ramble that I was ready to post.

Then I deleted it and left it alone.

You know why?

Because fuck it, that's why.

Love is an experience you have to go through yourself. Nobody else can explain it for you.

Love is an experience you have to go through yourself. Nobody else can explain it for you.

Ummm... most people experience love as soon as they are born. Most people comprehend love as they grow up. Again, everyone is thinking of love too narrowly - at least, in my opinion. Most children know the love of a parent as soon as they get out of the utero. Most children make friendships. It is very rare for a child to grow up with no love at all, and those children end up damaged.

When I say love I don't mean the passion-inducing hormones or the I-must-kiss-you-right-now feeling. Or the greatest affection you can show to a person - the need to make sure someone is absolutely fine.

To me, because I am scientifically minded, vaguer is righter. Therefore, when I say love, i mean it in the vaguest, most "right" sense. And that is a deep-set affection or attachment, a description vague enough to apply to many different situations, all similar but also very different.

Also, because of the way I view things, there is no "true" love. There is no way to measure how "true" someone's love is. Just because a love is stronger doesn't mean its "truer". Whose love is "truer": the love of a parent for a child or a lover for his partner? If you cannot answer that question how can you say that those in healthy, mutually-beneficial relationships have a "truer" love than those in destructive, unhealthy relationships? Someone either loves something or they don't.

Perhaps that's depressing. I don't find it so. I feel its realistic.

Originally Posted by 2sh4r Ummm... most people experience love as soon as they are born. Most people comprehend love as they grow up. Again, everyone is thinking of love too narrowly - at least, in my opinion. Most children know the love of a parent as soon as they get out of the utero. Most children make friendships. It is very rare for a child to grow up with no love at all, and those children end up damaged.

Right. I meant what I said in the broadest way possible. Every aspect of love. Just everything. All of it. Play through all the levels.

I like what the bible says:

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

But I'm a Christian, so I'm like that. I don't think there are better definitions anywhere else, though.

This also depends on whether we're talking about 'to love' (verb) or 'love' (noun). The feeling and the action are different things, in and out of both Christianity and other forms of thinking.