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What is love? Does it exist or is it just a figment of our imaginations? The definition of love according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary is (1) a strong affection for another arising out of kinship or personal ties (2) the attraction based on sexual desire or affection and tenderness felt by lovers. The word comes from a few different sources including the Old German word lubEre which means "to please."

There are two different types of love, unconditional love and the act of being in love. Unconditional love is explained in the first definition and is most commonly described as the love a mother has for her child. It is an innocent love that can never be tainted. The act of being in love is quite different and much more complicated. If this type of love actually exists why are there so many divorces and so much heartbreak in the world? If a love is genuine, how can one man love more than one woman in his lifetime?

Perhaps the term "love" is used much too loosely in our culture. To hear individuals as young as twelve announce that they are in love is nauseating. They lack the life experience and even experience in relationships to understand what love is. They find someone they care for and that cares for them in return and believe it to be love. Maybe some adults are also just as ignorant. It is not entirely our faults however; there are so many different levels of human emotion that a person may not know for sure what he or she is actually feeling. Maybe they simply don't know what love really is; maybe no one does.

Everyone has heard of the phrase "love at first sight" and many people believe it's possible, but there is no such thing. In reality it is just lust; you cannot love someone you know nothing about. You are drawn to the physical aspects of that person and nothing more. As you first start to talk to that person you may be fascinated by them, but love is not an instantaneous thing.

Some people believe there is one person made just for you, who is absolutely perfect for you, your soul mate. In the Greek Philosopher, Plato's "Symposium" he claims that in the beginning of time there were three parents the Sun, the Moon, and the Earth. All three produced children, the Sun had a man, the Earth a woman, and the Moon a hermaphrodite. Each of the offspring had one head with two faces, four arms and legs, and two sets of genitalia.

One day the offspring decided they would go to Olympus and attack the gods. Zeus punished them by cutting them in half so they each

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