Answer to "Why We Love" Question 2

Fisher's thesis in "Why We Love" is that love, in any way, shape, or form affects all of us sometime in our lives. Her survey that she talks about in the beginning showed that Japanese and Americans experience love in very similar ways despite the huge difference in the way that both of these societies function. Fisher goes on to explain that seratonin and norepinephrine, the two main love hormones, cause similar reactions in a variety of creatures, including animals. She points out that in many animals the hormonal reactions are very similar tothat of humans. Male animals often don’t eat or sleep during the mating season in order to ensure they keep their desired mates; male animals can also be possessive, just as humans are when they feel that their love may be challenged. She specifically talks about chimpanzees being one of the most sexually active animals and yet they do not practice monogomy. There is also the evolutionary perspective which says that we love because we need to in order to mate and reproduce. Also, she mentions Freud's psychodynamic theory which reverts all feelings of love and the like to sexual urges and repression.

So far, I am not particularly pleased with the book. I feel that Dr. Fisher does not do much in the way of presenting new information and that most of what she does is to list different theories that already exist. This might be her goal, but I have heard all of this many times across many different fields and it somewhat bores me and I see it pointless to write a book about stuff that has already been recorded. Her personal survey/research was somewhat interesting, but I think a larger sample size across a broader range of cultures would be needed for a true observation of this. I think that Fisher titled her book "Why We Love" because that is precisely what she is trying to explain across a broad range of fields. While I don't think this answers the question, since it states many theories and scientific findings, it is a good resource for learning all of the different hypotheses if one was unaware of them.