Is Western Romantic Love a Hypnotic State?

[John the Baptist]

I remember a line from a Pink Floyd song:

"Was it love/or the idea of being in love?"

A challenge to the intellect of the board, from a new member.

Western concepts of love are relatively different than Easter concepts. We have inherited a Romantic tradition of love. With very modern movements in feminism and the like, we've seen serious disarray in socially prescribed structures for sexual relationships for adults, namely the high number of failed marriages, and the rise of "alternative" lifestyles.

How much of what we think of is love is based upon any real lifestyle evidence, and how much of it is romantically seeded from an early age and amounts to a hypnotic state shared by many across society?

[Touch]

A lot of romance was concieved and passed on by people. You can't possibly think there was a whole lot of romance happening during or before the dark ages, or during our survival years - because it was never needed, and there's a good reason for that...if it wasn't needed then, it definitely won't be needed now...everything, including attraction, is wired into our brains.

In nature, some animals, like puffins for example, pair-bond to increase their chances of survival. Humans do the same thing: the man looks for the most suitable reciever of his genes, and the woman looks for the most suitable provider, and so they pair bond for greatest chance of success.

Romance is just a hopeful ideal that some men think they need to win women over, and SOME (one's with very low self esteems if any) women only find attractive because of tradition that has been passed down. Romance, is well....pretty romantic, and that is by definition: something that has no basis in fact, IMAGINARY.

It would be more effective to prove to the woman that you are the shit, and that you are the man for them, no one else, than to try and somehow win them over with flowers or chocolates - to them YOU the man are showing that YOU aren't good enough for them without the assistance of flowers and chocolates to try to appeal to her, and it is actually seen as a weak attempt at swooning her.

When it works, which it rarely does, it's probably because women see it as cute more than anything else, and appreciate the thoughtful effort you gave to them.

[Touch]

Oh yeah, and one interesting part I forgot to mention, was that Puffins pair bond for life. They pick a mate, and they reproduce with them only, until the day they die. If you can provide for the woman, be interesting and confident and full of stories and jokes, and provide for her EMOTIONALLY and turn on her attraction switches, then you just might find yourself a mate for life, just like the puffins do....and what could be more romantic than that....isn't that what all those love stories are about anyway?