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Possible Love Molecule?
aychamo writes "Psychiatrists from Pavia University have associated early romantic love with a biochemical known as nerve growth factor (NGF). Apparently, levels of NGF in the bloodstream were significantly higher in subjects who were in the early stages of romance than individuals not in a relationship. Interestingly, "subjects in love who--after 12-24 months--maintained the same relationship but were no longer in the same mental state to which they had referred during the initial evaluation" did not have elevated NGF levels."
Actually, it does. Your examples still imply causality, which it doesn't. :-)
For example, you say: Large % of those in love owned cars (implying cars cause love)
In this case, you'd have two groups - one which has cars and another which doesn't. If the percantage of people in love within the "has cars" group is significantly higher than in the "doesn't have cars" group, then you can say that "having a car may help find love." If the difference is small, however, you can say it probably has little effect.
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No. It doesn't:
Um, yes it does.
Large % of those in love owned cars (implying cars cause love)
What? No. It does not say that cars cause love. In fact, parent specifically said he was talking about probability. Your example implies that cars and love are related. It doesn't imply that love causes one to have a car, nor the other way around. It could very well be that both love and ownership of a car is caused by a third variable, like wealth.
# Small percentage of those in love owned telescopes (implying telescopes make falling in love unlikely)
# Large % of those in love had eaten at McDonalds (implying McDonalds causes love)
Again, you have a misunderstanding of what a correlation is. None of those has anything to do with causation, necessarily. Nor does correlation suggest causation.
That's why negative samples, control groups that isolate the issue under test, repeatability and more are much more significant than correlation.
Well of course. If someone prefers correlation over clear causal relationship, they're likely to be mad (now that's a correlation!). But clear causal relationships are difficult to determine, and those who do "determine" them are often found to be WRONG only 5 or 10 years later.
I would say more fights break out due to large amounts of tequila than just about anything else. Well, beer being number one followed very closely with tequila.
Worse yet, tequila usually means fights with vomiting involved.
Hardly a "love bomb"....unless you're into that kind of thing.
"Leo Fender was in a 'state of grace' when he designed the Stratocaster." -- Paul Reed Smith
It is oxytocin, which is the female bonding / lactating chemical, not to be confused with oxycontin. ;)
There is also PEA (phenylethylamine), which is an anti-depressent / stimulant that is present in higher concentrations during the beginning stages of a relationship (and obtained from chocolate too!). I would venture to say that this chemical has far more addictive qualities than NGF.
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