On love and madness. Losing ones mind, to find ones heart.

It is perhaps a useful exaggeration for a poet to say that love is insane madness. The Sufis said that they were moths burned completely in the fire of their Beloved.

We can label almost anything that is not mathematically proven, as either “merely physical” or (in the case of love, feelings, inspiration, belief… even art) as being hopelessly “irrational”. As in “you’re being irrational!” It is extremely difficult to find a satisfactory response to that stance. It is a brick wall in the middle of the road. Brick walls and outdated habits are difficult to dismantle.

The “irrational” and emotional will come out… one way or another. This includes love and anything else that deeply affects our deepest levels.

A culture that doesn’t allow the expression of the soul will find itself in a swamp of psychosis.

In other words… to forbid the confusing madness of love is to open the gates to literal and explosive insanity.

I take it it's romantic love being talked about here. I think the similarity is because the chemistry between the two is there. Chem means chemicals/atoms that are attracted due to let's say minds meeting regarding some common ground. This is why mentalities changing means - attracted to someone else now. What is mad about it is the mad way chemicals have an affinity for each other in the two people. Atoms and molecules cannot be held. They go dancing and people in love are madly in love.

[quote=Oscar Wilde]Marriage [Love] is the triumph of imagination over intelligence. Second marriage [love again] is the triumph of hope over experience.[/quote]
[quote=Toni Morrison]Love is divine only and difficult always. If you think it is easy you are a fool. If you think it is natural you are blind.[/quote]
[quote=Slavoj Žižek][i]If you have reasons to love someone, you don’t love them.

Love feels like a great misfortune, a monstrous parasite, a permanent state of emergency that ruins all small pleasures.[/i][/quote]

To the modern, self-centred mind, the logic of rationality measures everything in relation to self interest, as expressed mathematically in game theory. It follows immediately from the definition of love as being other-interest, that it is considered irrational.

And yet it functions perfectly well in the world, where parents sacrifice their own interest for their children's, because the world does not believe in the absolute separation that characterises linguistic thought.

Quoting 0 thru 9

In other words… to forbid the confusing madness of love is to open the gates to literal and explosive insanity.

I agree. Which is why I believe love is such a large topic of expression in art, literature, media and music. They are outlets for the frustrations, laments and irreconcilablilities (irrationality) of love.

The objects of love are flawed. As flaw is an inherent feature of human condition. Loving an imperfect thing, despite their repeated failings, as well as accepting love (despite your own repeated failings) appears irrational, but feels for lack of better words "so right".

Reply to 180 Proof bravo 180 Proof. I thoroughly enjoyed your contributions here. Very apt indeed!

Love it seems is all that is left when all rational arguments not to are acknowledged/considered, and subsequently ignored regardless. Haha!

Reply to Beena I agree. Love is like some psychological gravity. The gravity between minds. Am attraction between beings which is objectively irrational, but intimately/subjectively rational: between the two involved with one another, the two that found innate chemistry and attraction between them.

Reply to unenlightened :up: :up:

Reply to Benj96 :cool:

I don't understand why low-effort OPs like this one are on the main page, while others - with more substantial research - go to "The Lounge" or are deleted by the mods directly.

Reply to javi2541997 Which Lounge discussion do you think should not be in the Lounge?

This one is interesting, I think. It would have been nice if Benj had given his interpretation of the quotations, but on balance I thought it might produce an interesting discussion.

Reply to Jamal I don't want to get involved in a discussion with you. I just wanted to say that I perceive that the effort and quality we all should put in the OPs is, somehow, relative.

Quoting Jamal

Which Lounge discussion do you think should not be in the Lounge?

It is not up to me and my opinion will not be taken seriously by you...

Reply to javi2541997 Weird response.

Anyway, note that some people choose to put their discussions in the Lounge, so don’t assume that they’ve all been put there by staff.