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Love Under a Microscope

smooth wombat writes "As today is one of the top five marketing-induced spending days, the obvious question is, what is love? Anthropologist Helen Fisher studied the brain's circuitry and found that the brain sees romantic love as a reward similar to chocolate, money or drugs. Does this mean that the mystery of love is less magical now that science has studied it under the microscope? According to Dr Fisher: 'You can know every ingredient in a piece of chocolate cake, and you still sit down and eat that chocolate cake and it's wonderful,' she said. 'In the same way, you can know all the ingredients of romantic love and still feel that passion.'"

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  1. Love is...keeping your promises. by fahrbot-bot · · Score: 5, Insightful
    My wife, Susan, and I were together for 20 years.
    We were an unconventional, but very happy couple (I am 42, she was 61).

    If romantic love is a reward, it's a reward for something deeper.

    • Love is dropping everything when she's diagnosed with a brain tumor in November 2005.
    • Love is being there for surgery, medication ... everything.
    • Love is staying there 24/7 for the week she's in a coma.
    • Love is making sure she's never in any pain and never alone.
    • Love is holding her in your arms when she dies in January 2006.
    • Love is keeping your promises.
    • Love is missing her.
    --
    It must have been something you assimilated. . . .