Love, Explained

Love has been called the only mysterious human relation. “Love, Explained” promises to eliminate that mystery with a comprehensive and revolutionary theory of love informed by what we now know about its biological foundations. The result of this new understanding is practical strategies to master the art of being a more loving person. All types of love are covered, not just romantic, but also between parent and child, and between siblings. The thread common to all of them is revealed. The basic questions we have about love are addressed, such as: what love is, why we love, why love fails, how to create new love, how to preserve the love we have, and how to restore lost love. What is the connection between love and health? Why are feelings of love so intense? Why does supposedly eternal, unconditional love sometimes turn into intense hate in the blink of an eye? How can we avoid repeating the mistakes of our parents’ relationships, or of our previous, unsuccessful relationships? At every step, “Love, Explained” turns science-based theory into practice. From what love is we advance to how love works, and end up with ways we can be better at any kind of loving relationship. It’s all based on what the latest hard science reveals. We don’t need love to be a mystery. The yield of banishing the mystery is to gain knowledge, and the yield of knowledge is to make progress in mastering the art loving others, and inspiring others to love us. The book concludes with an assessment of our epidemic of loneliness and a prescription for how we can all contribute to making this world a more loving place.