Romantic feelings rely on a
complicated concoction of chemicals and psychology. But as part of our series
on Life’s Big Questions with The Conversation, we ask, can they wear off?
By: Parashkev Nachev
Published:
14th February 2020, https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200211-love-is-it-just-a-fleeting-high-fuelled-by-brain-chemicals?ocid=global_future_rss&xtor=ES-213-[BBC%20News%20Newsletter]-2020February14-[future]
Level of
difficulty:**
BEFORE YOU
READ
QUESTIONS
1. What important conclusion does the writer draw concerning love from the
examples he provides? The process seems to lack…..
2.
According to paragraph, we
have no/ some /total control over the process of falling in love.
3.
What is the problem with
linking love to pheromones in humans?
4.
We infer from the text that
pheromones are chemicals that …
5.
Oxytocin is not considered a
viable answer to why we fall in love because its effects have been shown to be
non-existent /minimal / significant.
6.
The results of the research
involving brain imaging cannot explain why we fall in love because…
7.
Provide a one sentence summary
of the text so far. Your sentence needs to include certain key points; a
possible answer is provided in the key
8.
The conclusion is reached in
the text that “the the neural apparatus that makes falling in love possible”
needs to be complex. Why is this so?
9.
Why can falling in love feel
so instinctual and spontaneous? Because there is / is no … and this so
because in the case of falling in love there is /is no need to …
10. The example of facial
recognition is provided to prove that….
11. The last three paragraphs of the
text form ….. and we know this because this section of the text is more
specific/ more general and provides a summary of/ a new take on/ a
specific take on the information provided in the text.
12. What is the most important
take home point from the conclusion of the text?
WRITING TASK
This is a very easy text to practice your summary skills with so take a
shot at it. Alternatively, try writing an essay in which you try to explain why
we fall in love
IS LOVE JUST A FLEETING CHEMICAL HIGH IN THE
BRAIN? KEY AND TEACHERS’ NOTES
This text
has a definite wow factor, which should make it appealing. It is also very well
organized and could lend itself to summarization, a very important cognitive
challenge students need to get to grips with.
1. Rational appraisal
2.
No
3.
There is very little evidence
that they exist in humans
4.
Can signal attraction outside
the body
5.
Minimal
6.
(The fact) That parts of our
brains are set ablaze by one thing does not tell us much if they are just as
excited by a very different, other thing.
7.
None of the possible
explanations provided thus far provide an answer to the question of why we fall
in love. (Alternatively, you could list them: pheromones, oxytocin…)
8.
Because love is not simple
enough to be captured by a mechanistic description. (This is the best answer as
it comes directly out of the topic sentence)
9.
There is no explicit
reasoning/ detached rationality involved; detach ourselves from the grounds for
a decision so that others can record, understand and apply it independently of
us.
10. Instinct is not simple OR
instinct is (potentially)more sophisticated than rational analysis
11. The conclusion; more general ; a
summary
12. Love (like all our thoughts,
emotions and behaviours) rests on a very complex interplay of physical
processes in the brain. (Make sure to adapt your answer to the question as has
been done in the key)
