(November 1, 2023 at 9:31 am)Ahriman Wrote:(November 1, 2023 at 9:23 am)FrustratedFool Wrote: Psuedo-reciprocity is all that seems to be required to generate the chemical brain state we call the emotion of love. Illusions are sufficient.
People can experience the same love emotion they have for their spouses, for example, in their dreams for dream characters, or during hallucinations, or in religious interactions with their deity or whatever. I have felt intense love in dreams and during moments of religious ecstasy, and it is similar in quality (though different in practical outworking) to the love I've felt for human lovers, friends and family.
If it was revealed to me that my child was an automaton, a P-zombie or simulation, and had never been conscious, the love I have had for them wouldn't have been any less than others would have had for their children even though there never would never have been any real reciprocity. And I would continue to feel that emotion subsequently (I mean, I already beleive all humans lack freewill and are conscious organic robots).
So yes, love as a bare emotion doesn't require anything beyond ourselves.
Well humans are free, for now. There are people who want to change that. Will love (in any form) be a relevant thing if humans no longer have free will?
If humans don't have freewill (as I think most likely) then love is what it is. The emotion of love doesn't require freewill.
