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comment by elizabeth
elizabeth  ·  4000 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Hubski, what is the story of your first love?

You can love ice cream. So when you meet somebody you like more than ice cream, is that grounds enough to say you love them? Or you can love your children, and that's usually a very strong love. But I'm willing to bet when most of us say the first "I love you" in a relationship, we love that person less than we would love our child. We probably wouldn't be willing to die for that person at that point.

I guess everyone decides at what point what they feel can qualify as love, and the point you decide "like" turns into "love" is higher than it was before.





Kafke  ·  3998 days ago  ·  link  ·  

As of now, I would never say I "love" ice cream. Because I don't. I enjoy eating ice cream. I like the taste. But I don't love it.

As for people I "like more than ice cream" that statement doesn't make sense. Do you mean "I enjoy that person's company more than I like the taste of ice cream"? I wouldn't say I "love" that person. Just that I enjoy their company. As for how that compares to the taste of ice cream, any comparison would absurd.

    Or you can love your children, and that's usually a very strong love.

I don't have any children, so I can't say how I'd react.

    But I'm willing to bet when most of us say the first "I love you" in a relationship, we love that person less than we would love our child.

I've never thought of children as something to love (besides when I was young and "loved" someone a similar age). If anything, I'd see my own child as a student. Someone to teach. Again, "love" would be different.

    We probably wouldn't be willing to die for that person at that point.

But then is that truly love? Also, I fail to see how dying "for" someone implies that you love them. If anything, you are depriving them. That's not a "loving" thing to do AFAIK.

    I guess everyone decides at what point what they feel can qualify as love, and the point you decide "like" turns into "love" is higher than it was before.

I try to avoid the word "like" as it doesn't clearly describe what I think about things. It's a vague word that can be interpreted in many ways. Perhaps that's why I avoid the word "love" as well.

OftenBen  ·  4000 days ago  ·  link  ·  

When a person says "I love X more than Y." Does that mean "If given the choice between X and Y I will choose X?" or does it mean "If I had to live without X or Y, I would live without Y?" Is there a distinction?

_refugee_  ·  3999 days ago  ·  link  ·  

What an interesting question.

    When a person says "I love X more than Y." Does that mean "If given the choice between X and Y I will choose X?" or

Talking solely about food, I would say that it depends on my mood. And I suppose that could be extrapolated to different things, maybe even people, too. For instance I love Chinese food, I also love bacon-egg-and-cheese sandwiches. But I don't want to eat either all the time. Sometimes I'm in the mood for one when I'm not in the mood for other. Because of this it would be difficult for me to quantify how I feel about them even though statistically I eat way more Chinese food. Like, I probably love Chinese food more...but that doesn't mean I would necessarily choose Chinese food over a BEC sandwich every time.

(I would choose Chinese food if I had to live without one of these items, though.)