Love Calculator

How accurate is this love calculator? See the examples

The calculator is fully deterministic: the same pair of names always produces the same score, and swapping the two names never changes it. It is a game based on the names themselves, not a measurement of any real relationship.

Definitions of Love

Love is a word with a variety of meanings in different contexts. It is generally defined as a strong affection for another person, be it maternal, romantic, or based on admiration, and it is sometimes even extended to objects or food. The concept differs between cultures and countries, which makes a single universal definition of love difficult to arrive at.

Love is sometimes categorized as either impersonal or interpersonal. Impersonal love is directed at an object, principle, or goal that a person is deeply committed to or greatly values - the love of life itself, of a childhood toy, or of a cause or idea. Interpersonal love is love between human beings: the love between family members, friends, or couples. Its basis has been speculated about throughout history in biological, psychological, and even evolutionary terms.

Regardless of what any psychologist or "expert" says, how a person defines love is up to them, and the result of any online calculator should have little to no bearing on whether a person chooses to pursue it.

Approaching Love

In general, we are attracted to people like ourselves. Middle-class people tend to go for similarly middle-class types, and we look for those who share our tastes in clothes, music, or environment. Yet sometimes we find ourselves attracted to people who are totally unlike us - real opposites - because we also seek change and stimulation.

Some say we seek people like ourselves to form a more stable union; well-known actresses pair up with rock stars, for example, because such partners tend to be as rich and famous as they are. Others point to the challenge of the unknown: a partner from a very different background brings a different gene pool, which may benefit children. There is no scientific proof for such assertions.

Physical features matter to both sexes, though somewhat more to men, and there is some scientific basis for this. According to Louann Brizendine, a clinical professor of psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco, and author of "The Female Brain," the male brain processes the female image largely visually, while the female brain, when taking in a good-looking male, also shows judgmental activity - thinking about the man's character at the same time. Love, she says, takes over most of your brain activity, which is why you cannot seem to get the other person out of your head.

But all scientists admit there is no hard explanation for why one person goes for another. There will probably never be a science of love, nor any way to calculate its results - so let your mind and your heart decide.