My vote is both. Although you don't have a choice who you love... you do have the choice to express it or not. This is strickly for humans. The whole dog thing was quite fascinating and will have to think about that one further.

No. Love is due to a chemical.

Imagine an invisible, undetectable force that's powerful
Enough to override your sense of reason yet draws you
To someone with an almost animal passion. These aren't
Cupid's mythological arrows, but real shots of human
Pheromones.

http://health.discovery.com/centers/...phermones.html

Welcome to The Scent of Eros:
Mysteries of Odor in Human Sexuality -

'Scientists in Philadelphia have established for the first
Time that the human body produces pheromones, special
Aromatic chemical compounds discharged by one individual
That affect the sexual physiology of another'...

http://www.athenainstitute.com/discovery.html

Do pheromones work in human sexual attraction?

They may be odorless and colorless and their function may be
Mysterious, but human pheromones at last have the zest of
Scientific truth. Researchers at the University of Chicago
Have demonstrated that compounds swabbed from the
'underarms' of young women at different times of the month
Can alter the length of other women's menstrual cycles,
Compressing or expanding the cycles in predictable
Fashion...

http://www.ishipress.com/humanodo.htm

http://www.cnn.com/HEALTH/9803/11/pheromones/index.html

What is the force that lights the fuse between two
Complete strangers? What current pulses through their veins,
Engorges their hearts, occupies their minds and numbs their
Texting fingers? Ah, if only

I knew. As magic formulas go, sexual chemistry must surely
Be the most valuable. It's intoxicating effects are more
Pleasurable and more powerful than any drug and when it hits,
It hits hard. There are the rushes of ecstacy, the gut wrenching
Anticipation, fluttering, dizziness, and the diminished
Concentration that turns day-dreaming into a full-time job.
And then there are the side effects. A positively Colombian
Annihilation of appetite and its confidence- boosting by-product,
Weight loss. And it is free. And it is legal. It is bloody amazing.

But no one knows what "it" is. Scientists have managed to
Map our genetic blueprint. They understand the subtleties
Of hormones and the complexities of the emotional brain.
But the thing that makes two people click remains a mystery.
Theories abound as to what, or why. Those looking for a
Magic bullet (or Cupid's arrow) tend to favour the notion
Of pheromones - scents secreted by the sweat glands in the
'armpits' and pubic hair. And the relatively recent discovery
Of the vomeronasal organ, a small chemo-sensory structure in
The human nose, lends the concept some weight.

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/m...9/ai_n12741733

Science of Love - Cupid's Chemistry:

There are, in fact, three distinct stages of love; each with
Their own characteristic emotional profile and scientific explanation.

First is lust. Lust is driven by our sex hormones testosterone
And oestrogen. These hormones are what get us 'out on the pull'.
After lust comes attraction. This is the love-struck phase;
The time when we lose our appetite, can't sleep, and can't
Concentrate. This is what we know as falling in love.

http://www.thenakedscientists.com/HT...incolumn1.htm/

Who says we were talking about a sexual? Relationship, For goodness sakes, I was talking about all of the people I love in my life... lusting (the first state of love) would be very wrong in these instances! So back to the question sweet, is it a choice? To love your daughter? To love your Grandma that you only met once or twice? Is it?

Maybe he lusts after his daughter.

Yuck NK...

Perhaps he will revise his stages of love now. :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by NeedKarma

Perhaps he will revise his stages of love now. :)

---

Agreed!:D

Well... I think it would have to be a little of both... I don't really know though.

Good question! :confused:

My feeling is that love is a state of being. It's a state of mind AND heart because you actually don't need to have anyone special in your life in order to love. It IS within you.

Think about it.

The state of 'loving' is special in itself and needs no particular goal or focus, no particular object. So, there is no choice about love in it's purest form - it just 'is'.

Sorry to get all philosophical...

It simply depends on weather you believe in the love at first sight. Love is a choice and it is not. You can choose if you love someone, because if you were married, you would have chosen to love that person. But you don't get to choose weather you love your brother or sister.