Originally Posted By: Faldage
The only reason we think our love behavior is "real" is because we can talk about it.


Let's explore your dry response.

Presumably the reason some people believe non-human animals do not experience "real" love is because they can't talk about it?

We'll ignore mute humans.

We'll ignore that talking is not the only means of communication, even among humans.

I wonder if this is a binary relation or whether the quality or realness of love is considered to be a monotonically increasing function of our ability to express it. Shakespeare's love was more real than that of lesser men. Same for Emily Dickens'.

The illiterate parent who without a thought sacrifices its life for its offspring experiences a less real love than the bathetic student sputtering erudite, lust-inspired platitudes into the ear of his high school sweetheart.