Does Love Make Us Dumb?

[Nakosis]

​

And finally, what would love be without embarrassment? Sexual arousal (but not necessarily attachment) appears to turn off regions in our brain that regulate critical thinking, self-awareness, and rational behavior, including parts of the prefrontal cortex. In short, love makes us dumb. Have you ever done something when you were in love that you later regretted? Maybe not. I’d ask a certain star-crossed Shakespearean couple, but it’s a little late for them.
Love, Actually: The science behind lust, attraction, and companionship - Science in the News

 

[sun rise]

I thought this would be about a different meaning for the word "love". My love of very dark chocolate, for example. Does thinking about it turn off the same brain areas?

 

[Nakosis]

I thought this would be about a different meaning for the word "love". My love of very dark chocolate, for example. Does thinking about it turn off the same brain areas?

I think it noted this was likely not in reference to attraction. Of course if it is more than attraction, i.e. it makes you sexually aroused.

 

[sun rise]

I think it noted this was likely not in reference to attraction. Of course if it is more than attraction, i.e. it makes you sexually aroused.

Yes, I know. I was commenting on how vague the word "love" is because it applies to sexual desire, food, God, love of friends etc.

 

[Mock Turtle]

Hence why God (some forms) admonishes us to love so much - so as to lower our critical thinking - as to even God's existence.

 

[anna.]

Yes, I know. I was commenting on how vague the word "love" is because it applies to sexual desire, food, God, love of friends etc.

There are languages other than English that have a lot more words for love, the different kinds of love. We're rather limited in comparison.

 

[metis]

There are languages other than English that have a lot more words for love, the different kinds of love. We're rather limited in comparison.

And one word for God in Koine Greek is "agape", of which there is no one-word English equivalent. It's what one may call an "action noun", such as one doesn't just believe in love but lives out of love. IOW, love is to permeate us and our actions.