Delusion
n. 1. a. The act or process of deluding.
b. The state of being deluded.
2. A false belief or opinion.
3. Psychiatry. A false belief strongly held in spite of invalidating evidence, especially as a symptom of mental illness.
Reading Richard Dawkins and his “The God Delusion” and I wonder about Love & Romance. I see no reason to not dismiss them, in the same vein, as delusions as well.
Love seems to be a delusion manifested due to our evolutionary needs to procreate. The rush of emotions associated with “love” and the corresponding chemicals and hormones are designed to attract us to suitable, fertile mates and further the human race. In fact, using love as a basis for a lasting monogamous relationship (a marriage, for example) seems to be an accident waiting to happen. Rather, compatibility and rational justification for co-habitation seem the way to go for making a choice of this magnitude. Despite this obvious rationality, why are humans so convinced in their delusions?
Conditioning, almost Pavlovian in its essence, has coloured our thinking. On one hand we have the social conditioning of religion and its dogmatic principles. On the other we have the Byronic conditioning by the Romantics, imbued in us through Literature, Poetry, Music and Cinema. In effect, deluded into believing in ideals other than pure reason. Societal evolution occurs as a process of convincing individuals about the need for collective good. Whether societal ideals of honesty and honour are delusions guiding us away from our self-interests is a thought for another day.
So if we accept that the emotions surrounding “love” are delusional because they’re a manifestation of our genetic pre-disposition to find mates and it’s the chemicals doing it, then we also have to factor that all our “feelings” are based on similar electrical impulses and electro-chemical processes. If we define ourselves by our sensations, then do we nullify the existence of one who’s shorn of these senses. Our a priori assumption is, after all, “I am” and we aren’t ‘thinking away‘ our sensations of pain, heat, hunger in an attempt to isolate the self from its corporeal state.
With that we return to the acceptance of the feelings of “love” and the desire to unite with the rest of humanity by believing in an entity that tried to explain the inexplicable and reassure those who doubt, in other words, “religion”.
Returning to the definition, “a false belief held in spite of invalidating evidence”; the validity of the evidence and the falsehood of the belief not having been proven, it is premature to dismiss the two as ‘delusions‘. On the other hand, if these are to be accepted as so, then in the words of Krishna (from the Bhagavada Gita), “what is this world but a Maya, an illusion?”
3 Comments
i disagree, though not completely. love is not a delusion. the perception of lust, infatuation and obsession as love makes it a delusion.
psychologically speaking, the aforementioned are all part of our id. love, however has been misinterpreted. if u talk in a non platonic sense, its why octogenarians marry (they cant recreate,forget procreate), why marriages still stay intact after one spouse becomes crippled in an accident, its why ppl care and choose to make small sacrifices for each other, even when there are no liabilities such as children. i can give Darwinian a example too. personally, i think its why some species mate for life.
and, yes, love described by u, is definitely delusional. but love that grows out of a relationship/ companionship/ marriage based on mutual respect, trust and compatibility is the non delusional version.
the world is indeed an illusion, which is probably why ppl seek enlightenment, moksha, nirvana (whatever u call it) to see past the maya.
The fact that love may be a reaction to biochemical changes and electrical impulses does not make it delusionary. Rather, it makes it real… emotions is how humans experience electrical impulses and hormonal changes and things of that nature.
Secondly, the whole idea of a delusion is believing in something that has proven to be false. So you asking, if we know that love is a delusion, then why believe in it, is an oxymoron.
Third, even if it is a delusion, it is protective to humanity… it serves a function. Hence, indispensable.
Fourth, you can’t understand love without understand hatred. Food for thought.
Suddenly got thinking of the same issue, especially “hatred”. Aren’t these emotions evolutionary defence mechanisms designed to protect us from people who may hurt us or cause us harm and bring closer to those who’ll benefit us.
Pallo, the love I talked about was the one closer to infatuation wherein it served the process of attracting a future mate. The love you talk about is also a societal value, evolved to provide support to the progeny and support monogamy. The associated emotions of jealousy, envy (and even hatred) also provide some form of evolutionary benefit which is why they’ve not got weeded out of the system.
Which brings us to the question of “free will”. If it is all our evolutionary responses at work, how are we rationally deciding our own fates.
Prachi, I agree with the whole point of our senses and emotions being real and telling us what we are. We have evolved to “love” and have been conditioned to experience these emotions. So, I think the belief that we love people and choose the whole process (and not the person) by our free will, is a delusion.
I’m not planning to do away with love at all. It’s just a realisation of why it exists and why we indulge in it. Rather than be blissfully ignorant, I’d rather be like Sisyphus who examines his life, notices the patterns and makes sense of the absurdity.