false 35711 2 Poor, poor science--it gets blamed for everything. While it might be true that some of our alienation and unhappiness stem from a too-rational misunderstanding of emotion, it's also true that science is its own remedy. <I>A General Theory of Love</I>, by San Francisco psychiatrists Thomas Lewis, Fari Amini, and Richard Lannon, is a powerfully humanistic look at the natural history of our deepest feelings, and why a simple hug is often more important than a portfolio full of stock options. Their grasp of neural science is topnotch, but the book is more about humans as social animals and how we relate to others--for once, the brain plays second fiddle to the heart.<p> Though some of their social analysis is less than fully thought out--surely e-mail isn't a truly unique form of communication, as they suggest--the work as a whole is strong and merits attention. Science, it turns out, does have much to say about our messy feelings and relationships. While much of it could be filed under "common sense," it's nice to know that common sense is replicable. Hard-science types will probably be exasperated with the constant shifts between data and appeals to emotional truths, but the rest of us will see in <I>A General Theory of Love</I> a new synthesis of research and poetry. <I>--Rob Lightner</I> 35644 2000 A General Theory of Love total:446|5:197|4:168|3:62|2:13|1:6| 446 1875 742 115 4 2 false false Fri Feb 06 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Fri Dec 26 01:03:58 -0800 2008 Fri Feb 06 23:30:40 -0800 2009 there are some really interesting ideas that i want to remember and think about more.
there are bits that are too simplistic.

okay, so, cognitive resonance is a really interesting idea. that our brains are shaped as infants in a neuro-...more...]]> 5 1 false false Tue Apr 01 12:00:26 -0700 2008 Tue Apr 01 12:26:57 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 1 false false Sat Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Fri Mar 14 02:53:44 -0700 2008 Wed Mar 18 08:35:28 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Wed Mar 18 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Mar 18 15:50:04 -0700 2009 Wed Mar 18 16:01:36 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Tue Dec 16 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Tue Dec 16 20:14:45 -0800 2008 Tue Dec 16 20:47:27 -0800 2008 A General Theory of Love is such a book. The three authors (all M.D.s) speak with one beautifully unified voice about what science is learning about the brain and about love and the brain.

One of the topics I found fascinating regar...more...]]> 5 1 false false Sat Aug 09 09:36:11 -0700 2008 Sat Aug 09 09:39:18 -0700 2008 The bonus is that it...more...]]> 5 0 false false Sat Oct 31 20:33:44 -0700 2009 Sat Oct 31 20:40:09 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Feb 28 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Wed Jan 07 16:03:06 -0800 2009 Sat Feb 28 07:26:43 -0800 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sun Nov 09 17:02:58 -0800 2008 Sun Nov 09 17:03:33 -0800 2008 The premise of this book is that “love alters the structure of our brains.” They present a strong case suggesting that the limbic brain is another organ. After detailing and explaining the various sections of our...more...]]> 2 0 false false Mon Aug 24 00:10:15 -0700 2009 Tue Feb 19 00:13:18 -0800 2008 Mon Aug 24 00:10:15 -0700 2009 more...]]> 0 0 false false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2002 Fri Nov 16 20:30:10 -0800 2007 Fri Nov 16 21:20:37 -0800 2007 more...]]> 0 0 false false Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Thu Jan 08 12:58:36 -0800 2009 Thu Jan 08 13:04:28 -0800 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sun Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2006 Thu May 28 15:41:43 -0700 2009 Thu May 28 15:45:37 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Tue Apr 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Thu May 08 09:52:47 -0700 2008 Thu May 08 09:59:07 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 2 false false Tue Jun 23 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Jun 15 20:42:38 -0700 2009 Tue Jun 23 23:37:10 -0700 2009
Basically this is a book about brains. It is not so much about love, it is about attachment theory. I learned how to raise babies, how to have relationships, I learned some people are hopeless.

They basically attack Freud for say...more...]]> 5 0 false false Wed Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2003 Thu Mar 06 08:53:00 -0800 2008 Thu Mar 06 08:53:00 -0800 2008 more...]]> 0 0 false false Fri Nov 06 11:30:23 -0800 2009 Fri Nov 06 11:32:18 -0800 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Tue May 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Sun May 13 23:49:13 -0700 2007 Tue May 29 06:03:16 -0700 2007 more...]]> 2 0 false false Sun Oct 04 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Sep 28 15:21:38 -0700 2009 Mon Oct 12 23:11:04 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Fri Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Mon May 28 00:53:40 -0700 2007 Sun Jun 03 17:27:47 -0700 2007 more...]]>