>>81807650>Doesnt that mean none of us actually love each other?Love is is the name we give to an emotion and the actions we take as a result. Love being selfishly motivated doesn't change it's existence as an emotion and set of actions.
>It just a survival tactic.Could be, or maybe not, for questions like that you're gonna have to ask God.
>That sounds manipulative right?'Manipulation' generally implies someone is being taken advantage of, who's being taken advantage of in that scenario? The female ape sees you have resources and good genes, you're the male ape and you see she has good genes as well... what's the problem here? The apes are both benefiting from the relationship and over time they will experience more joy, gratification and security together than they would have on their own.
I guess you could say there is selflessness involved with love in the sense that it involves a lot of self sacrifice but the reason for the self sacrifice was the way that person made you feel in the first place. There's always something being gained from the love itself, even if it's painful you're getting something out of it. Whatever is gained from love of another is so great it outweighs the love of the self. Regardless of if love is truly selfless or completely selfish the experience of it is the same so there's no point in getting cynical about it. You can experience hunger and then eat a steak and feel good about it without worrying about the motivation for why you were hungry.
