A Joosr Guide To Why We Love By Helen Fisher: The Nature And Chemistry Of Romantic Love

WHY WE LOVE BY HELEN FISHER The Nature and Chemistry of Romantic Love Contents What’s it about? Three core systems have evolved in the human brain that motivate us to mate and reproduce The behaviors displayed by humans in love are powered by combinations of chemicals produced in the brain Humans were forced to seek mates for life after evolving to walk on two legs Romantic love is a motivation, not an emotion We choose our partners for numerous personal and biological reasons Scientifically speaking, it is possible to rejuvenate passion in long-term relationships Unrequited love is a repetitive cycle of pain, similar to that experienced by drug addicts Final summary Now read the book Key takeaways What’s it about? Love has started wars and taken lives; it’s also inspired peace and evoked the finest works of art. It is seemingly the most powerful, pervasive emotion that human beings are capable of. But what is love? How do we choose who we fall in love with? And why do we sometimes continue to love those who don’t love us in return? In Why We Love, the answers to these age-old questions are explored as author Helen Fisher seeks to scientifically understand the universal phenomenon that is love. Presented is Fisher’s theory of three core brain systems that human beings developed for mating and reproduction, which compose what we now think of as romantic love. This is a groundbreaking explanation of the evolutionary reasonings behind love, exploring why the three components of love developed, which purposes they serve, and how each of them is stimulated. If you’ve ever wondered why you feel the way you do in the presence of a partner, this book will help you understand the chemical reactions in the brain that produce the sensations and behaviors associated with romantic love. You will also learn whether or not it’s possible to trick yourself into experiencing romantic feelings by stimulating certain areas of the brain, and precisely why having a broken heart is so agonizingly painful. By unraveling the mysteries behind the enigma of love, you will begin to understand the drive behind this uniquely human capability, and how it shaped the survival of our species. Three core systems have evolved in the human brain that motivate us to mate and reproduce People around the world are all distinctively different, but love is a universal trait of the human condition. Regardless of ethnicity, culture, or gender, humans across the millennia have left us drawings, sculptures, and scriptures detailing how passionately they have loved. Even the symptoms of being head over heels in love, experienced by our predecessors, remain the same today: a quickened heart rate, bursts of tremendous energy, a sensation of elation, preoccupied thoughts, and cravings for that special someone. The ubiquitous nature of love means it can only stem from the genetic makeup of our species; in other words, love is produced in the human brain. But the process is complex, involving three different brain systems, each motivated by a different evolutionary mating drive. These motivators are the three core components of romantic love: lust, attraction, and male-female attachment. Lust, the most animalistic of these key elements, refers to libido. Its purpose is to encourage humans to mate, originally with as many different partners as possible, in order to ensure procreation and the continuation of the human species. Attraction refers to the passionate pursuit of just one individual, the obsessive need to be near that special someone, and the sensation of complete elation that is felt while in their company. Attraction ensures an overwhelming devotion toward a single individual, excluding all others. This is what enabled our for