Aspie1 wrote:
[In] the end, it's just a bunch of chemical reactions in the brain, an evolutionary mechanisms at work. Among mammals, that's how males and females are brought together and how social groups form. In humans, the role of pheromones is thought to be weak, but ultimately, love is nothing out of the ordinary, just as a human heart is simply a specialized pump with no magical properties.
Um, Aspie1:
Everything is just a chemical reaction in the brain.
Everything, and love, limerence, and hatred are no exceptions to the rule. It's wiring being controlled by chemicals. Every time you eat and it tastes good, that's a reaction involving chemicals in the brain. Every time you masturbate and that feels good, it's chemicals. Every time you take a s**t and it feels good, it's chemicals. It's the feedback system throughout the nervous system, and it's not unlike blood carrying oxygen and nutrients; it's absolutely necessary for everything we do. Take our chemicals away and we'd sit like lumps unable or unwilling to do anything.
Of course, I have no doubt you know all of this, but I wanted to clarify that 'love' is no less real or valid because it's 'just chemicals'. It's real enough, and it has its purposes.
'Love' is, indeed, a four letter word, and sometimes a pretty worthless one since it can cover a whole range of positive feedback, but it's a word that stands for real reactions nonetheless. Not everyone is going to feel limerence -- some people never do -- and not everyone is going to feel or form a lasting bond with anyone, particularly those with ASDs. The chemicals for many people with ASDs are different, as is the wiring, so social bonding can be anything from mildly to severely impaired. Or it may not be affected at all, in some cases.