The riddle of love and hate

Love

• We value something so much that we do not want to lose it
• We value something so much that we want to be with it
• Love is a fundamental driver: we nurture, protect and pursue what we love
• Our object of love can be visible: persons, animals, objects
• Our object of love can be invisible: gods, money, status
• If we lose the object of our love we feel pain
• If we are with our object of love we feel joy
• Love has many forms: romantic, affection, friendship
• Overcoming love requires renunciation
• Love changes over time: it intensifies, decreases, takes a different form, or turns into hate

We might even experience levels of anti-love; hate

• We value something so low that we want to lose it
• We value something so low that we don’t want to be with it
• Hate is a fundamental driver: we avoid, reject or attack what we hate
• Our object of hate can be visible: persons, animals, objects
• Our object of hate can be invisible: gods, money, status
• If we lose our object of hate we feel joy
• If we are with our object of our hate we feel disgust
• Hate has many forms: resentment, contempt, spite
• Overcoming hate requires forgiveness
• Hate changes over time: it intensifies, decreases, takes a different form, or turns into love

We experience a level of love or hate for everything

The same levels of hate or love for the same object unite people

Different levels of hate and love for the same object divide people

Ultimately:

• Where do love and hate come from?
• Why are we not in a nature without these forces?
• Why does love feel morally better than hate?
• Are love and hate independent forces? Or two extremes of the same source?
• Do they only exist in humans?
• Etc.

Although open-ended, it seems enough for the moment.

Explore similar topics:

1. The Riddle of Preference and Desire
2. Christianity and Evil
3. The Problem of Free Will