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"What is love" was the most searched phrase on Google in 2012, according to the company. In an attempt to get to the bottom of the question once and for all, the Guardian has gathered writers from the fields of science, literature, religion and philosophy to give their definition of the much-pondered word.
Biologically, love is a powerful neurological condition like hunger or thirst, only more permanent. We talk about love being blind or unconditional, in the sense that we have no control over it. But then, that is not so surprising since love is basically chemistry. While lust is a temporary passionate sexual desire involving the increased release of chemicals such as testosterone and oestrogen, in true love, or attachment and bonding, the brain can release a whole set of chemicals: pheromones, dopamine, norepinephrine, serotonin, oxytocin and vasopressin. However, from an evolutionary perspective, love can be viewed as a survival tool – a mechanism we have evolved to promote long-term relationships, mutual defence and parental support of children and to promote feelings of safety and security.
生理上，愛情是一種像饑餓和干渴一樣的強大神經(jīng)反射，只是更持久。我們說愛情盲目或無緣由，在某種意義上我們無法控制它。但這并不令人驚訝既然愛情基本上是化學(xué)反應(yīng)。雖然欲望是一種臨時的激情的性渴望，涉及到在真愛或依賴關(guān)系中化學(xué)物質(zhì)如睪丸激素和雌激素的釋放增加，大腦會釋放出一系列化學(xué)物質(zhì)：信息素、多巴胺、去甲腎上腺素、血清素、催產(chǎn)素和垂體后葉加壓素。然而，從進化的角度來看，愛情可被視為一種生存工具——我們已經(jīng)形成的一種機制，為的是促進長期關(guān)系，共同防御和撫養(yǎng)孩子以及提升安全感。
The answer remains elusive in part because love is not one thing. Love for parents, partners, children, country, neighbour, God and so on all have different qualities. Each has its variants – blind, one-sided, tragic, steadfast, fickle, reciprocated, misguided, unconditional. At its best, however, all love is a kind a passionate commitment that we nurture and develop, even though it usually arrives in our lives unbidden. That's why it is more than just a powerful feeling. Without the commitment, it is mere infatuation. Without the passion, it is mere dedication. Without nurturing, even the best can wither and die.
某種程度上答案仍然是難以捉摸的因為愛不是一件事。愛父母、伴侶、孩子、國家、鄰居、上帝等等都有不同的特質(zhì)。每一個都有它的變體，盲目的、片面的、悲傷的、堅定的、變化無常的、有回應(yīng)的、被誤導(dǎo)的、無條件的。但是，它最好的是所有的愛都是一種我們培養(yǎng)和發(fā)展起來的充滿激情的承諾，盡管它通常不由自主地來到我們的生活中。這就是為什么它不僅僅是一種強烈的感覺。沒有承諾，它只是單純的迷戀。沒有激情，它只是純粹的奉獻。沒有培養(yǎng)，即使是最好的愛情也會枯萎、死亡。
What love is depends on where you are in relation to it. Secure in it, it can feel as mundane and necessary as air – you exist within it, almost unnoticing. Deprived of it, it can feel like an obsession; all consuming, a physical pain. Love is the driver for all great stories: not just romantic love, but the love of parent for child, for family, for country. It is the point before consummation of it that fascinates: what separates you from love, the obstacles that stand in its way. It is usually at those points that love is everything.
愛為何物取決于你在哪里邂逅它。在其中安全，它就感覺像空氣一樣平常和必須——你存在于它，幾乎無意識的。失去它，它就感覺像是一場妄想；所有沉溺都是身體上的疼痛。愛是所有偉大故事的前因：不只是浪漫的愛情，也包括父母對孩子的愛，對家庭的愛，對國家的愛。這就是在它圓滿之前令人著迷的一點：把你從愛中分隔的是阻擋它的障礙。愛是一切通常是關(guān)鍵點。
Love is more easily experienced than defined. As a theological virtue, by which we love God above all things, it seems remote until we encounter it enfleshed, so to say, in the life of another – in acts of kindness, generosity and self-sacrifice. Love's the one thing that can never hurt anyone, although it may cost dearly. The paradox of love is that it is supremely free yet attaches us with bonds stronger than death. It cannot be bought or sold; there is nothing it cannot face; love is life's greatest blessing.
愛更容易經(jīng)歷而非定義。作為一種神學(xué)美德，我們愛上帝高于一切，它似乎很遙遠直到我們遇見它，可以這么說，在另一個生命里——在善舉、慷慨和自我犧牲里重生。愛是不會傷害任何人的東西，盡管它可能成本高昂。愛的悖論：它是極其自由的但比死亡還強大的紐帶把我們聯(lián)系在一起。它不能買賣，沒有什么它不能面對的；愛是人生最大的祝福。
