Big Think

How to date, mate, and find fulfillment | Helen Fisher & more


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**Love Isn't a Phase—It's Hardwired in Your Brain 🧠❤️**

Anthropologist Helen Fisher reveals that sex drive, romantic love, and attachment aren't fleeting feelings—they're distinct *brain systems* rooted in our biology. Sex starts in the brain, not the body. Love activates the brain’s dopamine circuits, lighting up like an addiction, especially when love is lost. In fact, heartbreak activates pain and craving centers, proving that love, in its highs and lows, is as primal as hunger or fear.

To maintain long-term love? You must nurture all three systems:

- **Sex drive**: Have regular, enjoyable sex to keep the desire alive.

- **Romantic love**: Seek novelty together—new places, new routines.

- **Attachment**: Stay physically connected through touch and togetherness.

Meanwhile, author Louise Perry warns that despite modern tools—like the pill or the internet—our Stone Age brains haven’t evolved to handle radically new mating models. While polyamory is gaining ground, she argues monogamy offers stability, especially for women and children. Drawing from evolutionary and cultural history, Perry emphasizes that monogamy, though imperfect, may be the most socially sustainable system.

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