Love 200 years after Darwin

Love 200 years after Darwin
(Navhind Times, feb. 14, 2009)
In this article the term love is used purely in a restricted biological sense because it has many non biological and religious/spiritual connotations. Higher primates like Homo sapiens would not have survived as a species without romantic love, parental bonding, love and care. Both have profound Darwinian implications. In other words Darwinism is the cornerstone of understanding sociobiological phenomena. Understanding Darwinism is crucial in understanding the birth of human offsprings and even the competition between human spermatozooa. Is it not a wonder that the healthiest, the best and fastest sperm among the millions always wins the race?. Does the nature care for the wastage of millions of spermatozooas?. Then why such a prodigious number is produced?. If we follow Darwinism the answer is simple- nature doesnt put all the eggs in a single basket. There are millions of copies of same male DNA. But chances of taking the best male genetic payload for union with female egg increase only when there is a competition between the best. Human birth is still considered a miracle. But to make it possible hundreds of factors have to come in play. Procreation is also possible without bonding and love. But Darwinism demands that the parental love and care is essential for the offsprings. This is not possible without bonding of the parents. Bonding is elusive without love. Love originates from evolutionary urges. Lactating mothers automatically express it in a complex fluid biochemical form as colostrum and milk. Even if a mother begins to hate the baby under certain extraordinary circumstances-the flow would not stop. Darwinism tells us about the compulsions of nature. India, the land of worlds most famous text on art and science of love-Vatsyayanas Kamsutra virtually forgot Charles Darwins bicentenary of birth celebrated in more than 50 countries on February 12 th. What Kamsutra has to do with Charles Darwins evolutionary theory?. To answer this question one has to read a galaxy of authors beginning from bestseller ethologist Desmond Morris to biologist Richard Dawkins. Desmond Morris told the plain truth in his the Naked ape and the naked woman and Dawkins extended Darwinian argument further in his selfish gene the extended phenotype and the blind watchmaker. Darwinism is not just the theory of the survival of the fittest. It is also about adjustment, informed choice, adaptation and ensuring survival of the species. In its simplest form Darwinism, contrary to popular misconception that it is anti-religious dry theory-is a celebration of Love. Of course biologists would not simplify a complex term like love easily. They may mask what they have to say under technical jargon. They may produce hormonal data, brain maps, EEG readings-but basically despite its inbuilt violent nature, it is the love which keeps the human species going on and on. Love is the essential driving force behind evolution of intelligent higher animals. Meeting, mating, bonding, pairing , romance, sex, production of offsprings , parental love and care-all the phenomena can be explained by Darwinian approach. Without Charles Darwin it is difficult to understand the evolutionary urges and evolutionary adaptations. Love as it can be understood in a Darwinian sense is all about bonding and altruism. Love-its ecology, biology and science 200 years after Darwin, 150 years after his classic book origin of species is understood much better as an evolutionary urge of the species attempting to conserve the genes. If Dawkins says that were not really using the genes but the genes are using us-the genes being selfish-then Love becomes our most fundamental genetic urge. It also explains the charm and magnetism associated with it. Even under the worst circumstances couples who love one another make sacrifices. Parental love is much superior than love resulting in pair bonding. Darwinism offers an insight into the evolution of parental care. Parental care ensures security of the offsprings and the ultimate survival of the species. Biologists have attempted to demystify the urge which drives the parents to care for their offsprings. There is complex evolutionary programming behind it. Even if we take our own species, at least seven million years have been spent in programming our genes and the wiring of our brains. Thats why modern humans-the Homo sapiens could search and find love, affection, compassion, company, shelter and could manage to evolve culturally and technologically. It may take many years to mine the human genome and discover a molecular basis, a genetic basis for love and parental care. But when that discovery would be made Darwin would be proven correct. The gene for Love would not be selfish but it may turn out to be a keystone gene without which humans would not be able to function normally as social animals. Darwinism would get better and better with refined theories and ultimately humankind would able to fully understand the chemistry and molecular basis of love.