Have you ever wondered about the science behind love?  I'm going to spell out a few random 'Love' facts for you also. Did you know that an apple has been known as a symbol of love?  What about a four-leaf clover? Is chocolate really a love drug? Are eyes the window's to our hearts?

Abigail Marsh, Ph.D., associate professor of psychology at Georgetown University explains a little about this crazy, addictive, and awesomely high, miserably low phenomenon we call Love in this video.

Interesting!  Here are some other random interesting facts about love you may or may not know:

    1. The word 'LOVE' comes from Sanskrit 'lubhyati', which means desire, to long for, or to entice.
    2. The eyes, the window to the soul, and the windows to your heart? Scientists suggest that merely staring into another person’s eyes is a strong precursor to love. In an experiment, strangers of the opposite sex were put in a room together for 90 minutes where they talked about intimate details and then stared into each other’s eyes without talking. Many felt a deep attraction for each other, and two married each other six months later.
    3. Marriage is often described as 'Tying The Knot.'  Why? Many cultures use knots as symbols of an eternal love that has neither a beginning nor an end. Young Muslim women would send love messages to their lovers using intricate knots.
    4. It is often said that a way to a man's heart is through his stomach. There may be some truth to that beyond the literal.  Scientists suggest that the advent of cooking led to healthier food which, in turn, led to bigger brains and an increased capacity to woo potential lovers with new forms of linguistic and artistic seductive flairs.
    5. Ever wonder why heartbreak hurts us so badly? A study of college students who had just been rejected by their sweethearts showed they had strong activity in the brain associated with the insular cortex, the part of the brain that experiences physical pain.
    6. Taylor Swift may have been on to something with her song 'Love Story'. She sings about Romeo and Juliet, and really, when you think about that story, it's kind of tragic.  They didn't have things so easy when it came to their romance. Mystery or “the chase” is often a critical element in romantic love. Sometimes called the “Romeo and Juliet effect,” a situation with challenges or obstructions is likely to intensify one’s passion for a loved one.
    7. Sweat has been an active ingredient in perfume and love potions.
    8. Some psychologists argue that we fall in love with someone who is similar to the parent with whom we have unresolved childhood issues, unaware we are seeking to resolve this childhood relationship in adulthood.
    9. Love can be chaos, at times, oh how crazy we get when we are in love. The Cupid (or Eros) is said to have come from Chaos (“The Yawning Void”) and represents the primitive forces of love and desire.
    10. Scientists suggest that most people will fall in love approximately seven times before marriage.
    11. Timing significantly influences love. Individuals are more likely to fall in love if they are looking for adventure, craving to leave home, lonely, displaced in a foreign country, passing into a new stage of life, or financially and psychologically ready to share themselves or start a family.
    12. A four-leaf clover is often considered good luck, but it is also part of an Irish love ritual. In some parts of Ireland, if a woman eats a four-leaf clover while thinking about a man, supposedly he will fall in love with her.
    13.  On average, men around the world marry women who are three years younger than themselves. In the United States, men who remarry usually choose a wife five years younger; if they wed a third time, they often marry someone eight years younger than themselves.
    14. It is truly sad to think that there are some people who could live their entire life without falling in love. Some who claim to never have felt romantic love suffer from a rare disease called hypopituitarism.
    15. An apple a day may keep the doctor away, and it also could stand for love. It was after all an apple that Eve tempted Adam with in the Garden of Eden. The Celts believed that the apple represented love because it lasted so long after being picked.
    16. Studies show that if a man meets a woman in a dangerous situation (and vice versa), such as on a trembling bridge, he is more likely to fall in love with her than if he met her in a more mundane setting, such as in an office.
    17. Women often feel loved when talking face to face with their partner; men, on the other hand, often feel emotionally close when they work, play, or talk side by side.
    18. “Love” is used in tennis to mean, no score. The origin of love in that sense dates back to 1792 and means “playing for love” or, in other words, playing for nothing. Other scholars claim that "love" as a tennis score is a corruption of the French word for egg, "L'oeuf," because of the egg's resemblance to a zero.
    19. There is a reason that most women love chocolate.  Legend has it that Montezuma, the Mexican chief, considered chocolate a “love drug” and drank 50 cups of chocolate a day before visiting his harem of 600 women.
    20. Why is it that when you are the dumped instead of the dumper that you seem to be drawn more to the other? Getting dumped often leads to “frustration attraction,” which causes an individual to love the one who dumped him or her even more.
    21. The longer and more deliberate a courtship, the better the prospects for a long marriage. People who have intense, Hollywood-type romances at the beginning are more likely to divorce.
    22. Men in love show more activity in the visual part of the brain, while women in love show more activity in the part of the brain that governs memory. Scientists speculate that men have to size up a woman visually to see if she can bear babies, while women have to remember aspects of man’s behavior to determine if he would be an adequate provider.
    23. When someone looks at a new love, the neural circuits that are usually associated with social judgment are suppressed.
    24. Antidepressants may compromise romantic love because they enhance serotonin levels. Higher serotonin levels blunt emotions and inhibit obsessive thoughts about the lover, both crucial components of love.
    25. Engagement rings are often worn on the fourth finger of the left hand because the ancient Greeks maintained that that finger contains the vena amoris, or the “vein of love,” that runs straight to the heart. The first recorded wedding rings appear in ancient Egypt, with the circle representing eternity as well as powerful sun and moon deities.
    26. Men and women with highly symmetrical faces tend to have more lovers to choose from. Men and women are subconsciously attracted to those with a symmetrical face.

Roses are a traditional symbol of love and, depending on their color, can suggest different nuances of love.

  1. Red roses indicate passion and true love.
  2. Light pink suggests desire, passion, and energy; dark pink suggests gratitude.
  3. Yellow roses can mean friendship or jealousy.
  4. A lavender or thornless rose can mean love at first sight.
  5. White roses mean virtue or devotion.
  6. Some roses even combine colors to created more complicated meanings.

 

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