Love is a complex and multifaceted emotion that is often defined differently depending on cultural, social, and individual perspectives. At its core, love typically involves strong feelings of affection, caring, and attachment towards another person, often accompanied by a desire for intimacy, closeness, and mutual support.
Love can take many different forms, including romantic love, familial love, platonic love, and self-love. It can also involve a range of different experiences, such as joy, happiness, excitement, passion, and sometimes even pain and heartbreak.
Ultimately, love is a powerful and transformative force that can have a profound impact on our lives, shaping our relationships, beliefs, and sense of self.
~ ChatGPT
First Oh Dear Reader, i trust you are safe. Second, we are taking a slight detour into squishy, non-exact, messy, and truly complicated land: Emotions. This comes on the heels of Snake_Byte[14] Coding In Philosophical Frameworks. Also if you haven’t seen the news, the Cognitive Computing Arms Race with Large Language Models is in full swing. Boy Howdy Do We Love Us Some Anthropomorphism! ( i personally think its funny the parlor trick of auto-typing makes ChatGPT and all the other ones appear human to most. )
Turns out there is a class at Stanford on Computational Philosophy which is in the same realm as what i would love to discuss however slightly obtuse. It is a good read.
If we can compute Philosophical frameworks, could we or do we need to compute emotions in the future?
It was not random i started with the terseness of Stoicism. As this philosophy trends towards being objective in your emotions, akin to a more recent philosophy, “Objectivism.” We can quantify the aspects thereof. Or at least we think we can quantify them to some extent.
We know from a physiological standpoint that bodily metrics and chemicals can be measured for systematic responses to emotions. Dopamine, Vasopressin, Oxytocin, Serotonin, heart rate, sweat level, skin clamminess, and eye dilation are just a few measurable considerations.
However what does it mean?
Let’s take some bookend emotions: Love, Hate, Fear.
Some consider Fear to be the only true emotion. Flight or Fight. i’m also positive we can duplicate this in a machine or at least make it plausible to appear the machine is scared. (Also, it will make humans “feel” better one day but that is for a different discussion and different blog.)
Being that Spring Is In The Air let us choose LOVE.
There are so many types and kinds of Love.
- Love of a Mother to a child
- The Love you have for your pets
- The Love of eating a doughnut.
i’m not referring to these types i am referencing:
- You are the Love of My Life Companionship – Love
Books, signs, poetry, and yes, humans’ most deplorable creation War has been created over Love of Another. It is genuinely innate in the Human_Condition.
People acting a fool, if you will. You have seen it many times, and maybe (hopefully) you have done it.
As the famous song says, “What does love have to do with IT? What is love but some secondhand emotion?”. Great questioning Tina. We love you.
Have you ever been in The Love? How do you know that person Loves YOU?
i asked one of my progeny that question:
Me: “Do i Love you?”
Them: “Yes.”
Me” “How do you know?”
Them: “Dad i just know.”
This is not to be confused with infatuation, which is in and of itself an extremely intense feeling usually associated with a physically idealized version of the receiving person. Infatuation is initially overwhelming but then quickly fades. Love, on the other hand, appears to be a much deeper, almost seemingly “infinite forever-giving” emotion.
i was wondering how many times “Love” has been mentioned over the years. Below is a plot thereof:
i thought the drop in the 1980’s was interesting. If anyone was around in the United States in the 80’s that was the period of certain illegal chemicals, neon, 80’s metal and madonna. The Me Generation.
So what has happened in this area with using technology of Love? Well we scan our noggin:
When I take you in my arms gathered forever. Sometimes it feels like a dream. Sometimes it feels like a dream; to be with you.
~ Feels Like A Dream Lyrics
Research has shown that certain brain regions are activated when a person is in love or experiencing strong feelings of affection, including the insula, anterior cingulate cortex, and striatum. These regions are associated with reward, motivation, and emotional processing. Brain scans have also revealed that the levels of certain neurotransmitters, like dopamine and oxytocin, can change in response to being in love. So while there is no one-size-fits-all image of someone in love, there are certain brain patterns and chemical changes that can be detected in those experiencing the emotion.
Furthermore on the chemical brain related activity research has shown that during the early stages of romantic love, there is a decrease and increase in serotonin levels in the brain[1]. Serotonin can have direct affects on anxiety, insomnia and depression. For men there is a decrease and for women and increase in serotonin. Strangely this is similar to what is observed in individuals with obsessive-compulsive disorder, suggesting that the intense focus and preoccupation with the loved one may be related to changes in serotonin levels. Additionally, it has been found that long-term couples who remain in love have higher levels of serotonin than those who have fallen out of love. This suggests that serotonin may play a role in maintaining long-term relationships.
Our study provides the first evidence of love-related alterations in the underlying architecture of the brain, and the results shed new light on the mechanisms of romantic love.
~ Professor Xiaochu Zhang
So if there are (and there are injectable adjuncts to all of these chemicals) that can be augmented and tailored with specific dosages, this led me to ask the questions:
- can we compute a model of Love?
- can we fool the brain into thinking it is in Love?
- do we want to augment the brain so we feel like we are in Love?
- Do we want to make Love a thing of the past with future tech?
- The list could go on…..
Did my heart love till now? Forswear it, sight / For I ne’er saw true beauty till this night.
~ That Romeo Guy
When people meet, go on a date, shack up, get hitched or get married, i have heard it said:
- “You will grow to love them.”
- “Well, the person doesn’t really have the attributes i am looking for in a mate, but i can adapt.”
- “They share the same interest as you!”
- “They can cook or fix stuff for you!”
Why would we want to change or have that person change? Are social norms so strong that there are unwritten rules that we as a so-called society must follow, With a hard rule of it must be two consenting adults in a relationship, what is it of anyone’s business? Do most want to do what they feel they should do? Do we want a best friend to watch the big game with or play golf? Why not a companion that you can dance with now and when your old and just look at each other? To idealized? Oh life gets in the way. i see it is hard and you have stuff to do – yep i get it. Then is Love that important? If not then what is?
Love in a relationship is it needed?
How do you know when you’re really in Love? Do violins play when you’re touching the one your Lovin?
~ The Tubes
Most often, love is due to their connection with their partner. This connection can be emotional, physical, spiritual, or intellectual (or hopefully all of them). People may also fall in love or grow into love because they appreciate their partner’s qualities or values, such as kindness, honesty, or intelligence. Sometimes, people are drawn to others who are different from themselves because they find them intriguing or exciting.
This room is bare
~ Palabras de Amor from Queen
This night is cold
We’re far apart, and I’m growing old
But while we live
We’ll meet again
So then, my love
We may whisper once more
It’s you I adore
Other factors that contribute to love include shared experiences, common interests, and mutual respect. When people feel like they’re a team with their partner and can rely on them, it can deepen their love. Additionally, physical attraction and chemistry can significantly influence romantic love.
However, what if it is all of these with the same partner? Isn’t that what you truly desire? ALL THE THINGS! To truly know that there is one – what would you do to have that person show up on your porch?
This is what i believe we need to understand as we trend toward a world of distributed disconnected artificial intelligence.
In one kiss, you’ll know all I haven’t said.
~ Pablo Neruda[3]
Even post the pandemic, we see people hug and kiss less. There is less physicality which as we all know for most, a hug feels good for both and releases several proof-positive chemicals. i would tend to think at some point you want to rub against your significant other instead of smooching in cyberspace or sleeping in separate beds.
Is Love now an algorithm? i know in the age of match.com and tinder this appears to be monday morning quarterbacking but at least i believe there is something more to it than a list of attributes. In fact one of the startups i worked at started with the premise, “What are the three main questions you ask someone on a blind date?” Here they are:
- What is your favorite travel spot?
- What is your favorite wine (assuming one drinks)
- What type of music do you like?
From a cognitive standpoint the most difficult one was music recommendations. This by the way Oh Dear Reader was circa 2001 before Pandora, Shazam or any other music recommendation system. We based it on a cognitive model of music perception and cognitive psychology of inter-relations[2].
If we already know the future and can match it aren’t we living in a world of no surprises? What happens to that special glance? That special smile or touch or a good morning hug? That true everlasting one that loves you for you and only you not because your father mother or your in-laws approved. (If course it has been said you marry the family not the person. )
i am sure by now you have heard of the term Twin Flame. This is different than a soul mate. A Twin Flame is a mirror of oneself, a yin-yang type entity. The biggest distinction between a twin flame and any other type of soul mate is that twin flames are two halves of the same whole. A soul mate, on the other hand, can be thought of as someone cut from the same cloth as you. There’s a deep familiarity, and you feel very close, but you aren’t the same soul.
i wonder if we can compute and create a Twin Flame Agent of oneself?
i’m not sure i want to work on those future algorithms folks. Some things i want to be a mystery[4].
i’d love to hear some stories, comments, and possibly even rants as this is some very esoteric area we have paddled into so to speak. i’d love to know if you have the love of your life, twin flame or a tinder swipe of the night, i hope you just know.
Until Then,
#iwshyouwater <- alexy molchanov sets a new world record in Bonaire. i was just in the same spot freediving.
Muzak To Blog By: All The Love Songs by Queen. i miss you Freddy and recently brian may was knighted.
References:
[1] Scans Say Its True Love Link
[2] For the record, i tried the system, and no one liked strict cathedral organ works.
[3] Pablo Neruda is the most prolific poet when it comes to love and beaches i have ever read. there is a connection there.
[4] In blade runner, harrison ford knows full well racheal is a replicant yet he Loves her. Question is – Is He? That would be a twin flame. robot love.