The Guardian

What is love? You asked Google – here’s the answer

Every day millions of people ask Google life’s most difficult questions. Our writers answer some of the commonest queries
‘Basically, love helps a species to cooperate. It’s a kind of “biological bribery”.’ Photograph: Emilija Manevska/Getty Images

Experts say the western ideal of romantic love is constantly disappointing us. Which is a shame because our culture loves romantic love. It’s an idea that pervades pop music, novels, TV and film. Somewhere out there our perfect match is waiting to meet us, so the theory goes. But maybe love isn’t really about The One. Maybe the early films of Richard Curtis don’t have all the answers.

So what is love, actually? There are many answers to this question, says the anthropologist Anna Machin, but let’s start with

You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

More from The Guardian

The Guardian4 min read
‘Almost Like Election Night’: Behind The Scenes Of Spotify Wrapped
There’s a flurry of activities inside Spotify’s New York City’s offices in the Financial District. “It’s almost like election night,” Louisa Ferguson, Spotify’s global head of marketing experience says, referring to a bustling newsroom. At the same t
The Guardian4 min read
Mike McCormack: ‘If I’ve One Gift As A Writer, It’s Patience’
Mike McCormack was born in London in 1965 and raised on a farm in County Mayo in the west of Ireland. He published his first story collection, Getting It in the Head, in 1996, followed by three novels that have marked him out as an experimentalist. N
The Guardian4 min read
The Golden Bachelor’s Older Singletons Have Saved A Franchise
Strange as it may sound, one of the hottest shows on TV this fall has been … an old dating series now catering, for once, to senior citizens. That would be The Golden Bachelor, a new spin-off of America’s pre-eminent dating series in which a 72-year-

Related Books & Audiobooks