Wednesday, January 25, 2006

Love

Bought the latest issue of National Geographic yesterday. The cover story, Love -- The Chemical Reaction, has plenty of food for thought. The online edition of the magazine gives only a gist of the story, so love specialists might have to buy a copy. But I shall quote the blurbs, which should suffice for the lay lover:

Love and obsessive-compulsive disorder have a similar chemical profile. Translation: Love and mental illness may be difficult to tell apart. Translation: Don't be a fool. Stay away.

Studies around the world confirm that passion usually ends. No wonder some cultures think selecting a lifelong mate based of something so fleeting is folly.

Novelty triggers dopamine in the brain, which stimulates feelings of attraction. So riding a roller coaster on a first date is more likely to lead to second and third dates.

If dopamine induces romance, according to the article, a hormone called oxytocin leads to long-term attachment. So if you are looking for a lasting relationship/happiness, you need plenty of oxytocin. And if you run out of it, there are ways to produce it. Here's how, according to anthropologist Helen Fisher: "Massage. Make love. These things trigger oxytocin and thus make you feel much closer to your partner."

My conclusion: if you seek a permanent place in your partner's heart, the route to take is through the genital. Give him/her good sex and the two of you will live happily for ever after.

9 comments:

Varad Deore, Advocate said...

Phew Man BG! Like this is some new discovery! every one knows it! Just that those scientific studds as usual are complicating something simple in the name of science!

Anonymous said...

BG...you've disappointed me big time!

And happy prince...been reading your comments... at 18 u sound like a fine young man...and since im so much older than you, all i can say is stay Happy and stay Prince for a long, long time...

Anonymous said...

Nice post...nice not for the content, deductions, or anything else...nice because I like when you write for yourself. Writing a post is not, and should not be, an exam where others judge whether your post is good or bad....you wrote about something, which you wanted to write about...and since I (or we) like reading ur posts, I read this too...I don't expect that you write to provide enjoyment to us...we have tabloids for that purpose...
Keep writing for yourself...u have already earned yourself some fans for that anyway :-)

Usha said...

Bishwa,
"live happily for ever after" is a closing line invented for fairy tales - in real life, if we can still tolerate each other in peace after 5 years of being together - then you are "happily married". Take it from one who has been married for close to 26 years!
Look for a friend not someone who is going to give you unlimited happiness forever!!

Visithra said...

if only life was that simple ;) but it isn't is it?

Anonymous said...

5 days without a post,are you ok?

Prerona said...

hello! i was sent here by Rulda.Nice blog. I will be back to check for updates & read ur old posts :)

Sharmishta said...

Women produce more oxytocin in their body that makes them emotionally more varied.....its a hormone essential for the mammary glands. Is that why women tend to cling to relationships more?

Bishwanath Ghosh said...

Sharmishta: Do they? I guess they do. I knew one who did and (supposedly) left the country to escape it.

Prerona: You are most welcome.

Visithra: Life is anything but simple ;)

And to those who didn't like the post: Well, I was only quoting Nat Geo. ;)