Why Do We Fall In Love?

BBC Earth|Volume 14 - Issue 2

Is it companionship, procreation or something more? DR ANNA MACHIN reveals what makes us so willing to become targets for Cupid’s arrow

- Dr Anna Machin

At the most basic level, love is about survival – of the individual and the species. Humans are highly cooperative; we have to cooperate to subsist, to gain knowledge and to raise our highly dependent offspring. But cooperation isn’t easy. In an ideal world we’d live in blissful solitude doing what we wanted when we wanted and not having to consider the needs of, or the threats from, others.

Group living means that we have to compete for resources, coordinate our movements, exist within a hierarchy and make sure we keep an eye out for those who might lie, cheat and steal. So, what has evolution come up with to ensure we start and then invest in these survival-critical relationships despite their costs? Love.

LOVE IS THE DRUG

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Denne historien er fra Volume 14 - Issue 2-utgaven av BBC Earth.

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FLERE HISTORIER FRA BBC EARTHSe alt

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Volume 14 - Issue 2

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Ten years ago, it was jubilantly announced that o ers had returned to every county in England. But is river pollution putting the species in jeopardy again?

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Volume 14 - Issue 2

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Volume 14 - Issue 2

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More countries are enshrining the right to a clean environment into law. So if a company or government is impinging upon that right, you could take them to court

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Volume 14 - Issue 2

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Mega Spaceship: Is It Possible For China To Build A Kilometre-Long Spacecraft?

Buoyed on by its successful Moon missions, China has launched a five-year study to investigate the possibility of building the biggest-ever spacecraft

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Volume 14 - Issue 2

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Are We Getting Happier?

Enjoying more good days than bad? Feel like that bounce in your step’s getting bigger? HELEN RUSSELL looks into whether we’re all feeling more cheery…

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Volume 14 - Issue 2

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“Unless the Japanese got the US off their backs in the Pacific, they believed they would face complete destruction”

Eighty years ago Japan’s surprise raid on Pearl Harbor forced the US offthe fence and into the Second World War. Ellie Cawthorne is making a new HistoryExtra podcast series about the attack, and she spoke to Christopher Harding about the long roots of Japan’s disastrous decision

10+ mins |

Volume 14 - Issue 2

BBC Earth

Your Mysterious Brain

Science has mapped the surface of Mars and translated the code for life. By comparison, we know next to nothing about what’s between our ears. Over the next few pages, we ask leading scientists to answer some of the most important questions about our brains…