Love at first sight: Fact or Fiction?

How often have you heard the saying, “Love at first sight?” Have you heard tales of couples who fell in love with each other the moment their eyes met?

“Oh. It happened to a friend of a friend.”

“When I first saw Shirley, I knew that I had fallen in love.”

Love at first sight. How true is it? Is it really possible for someone to really fall in love with a person with the opposite sex the moment he/she sets his eyes on that person?

In this article, we seek to unravel the mystery and truth behind this phenomenon known as Love at first sight.

Before we delve further, we first have to take a closer look at the definition of “love” and “first sight.”

Firstly, Love. The love we are talking about here is of course romantic love between members of the opposite sex. Of course, in modern society today, sometimes love might also occur between members of the same sex. But we won't be going there.

Webster's dictionary defines love as (2) : attraction based on sexual desire : affection and tenderness felt by lovers (3) : affection based on admiration, benevolence, or common interests

Some people claim that when you fall in love, you go weak in the knees, or some swear that you cannot get the person out of your mind when you are in love.

Others feel that love is a sharing of interest and getting to know the person well. While there are some who feels that your life is never complete until you find love.

We may never come to a universal definition of love, just like how George Bush may never find his weapons of mass destructions. But simply put, love can be defined as an emotional bond you share with a member of the opposite sex where you seek to understand, accept, appreciate and show affection to the other party.

Now that we have our definition of “love”, let us take a look at the meaning of first sight. In this case, our first sight would most likely refer to the first glance, the first 10 seconds of setting your gaze upon the other person.

If we directly translate the meanings of “Love” and “First sight”, this popular saying would seem rather ridiculous. How can you possibly share an emotional bond with a person to seek to understand, accept, appreciate and show affection within the first 10 seconds of meeting someone?!

That would be a joke.

Of course, we know that things don't work that way. That would just be playing with words.

Researches have proven that human beings tend to set first impression within the first few seconds of meeting someone. Within those 10 seconds, the person will decide whether he likes you or not. From the way you look, the way you dress and the way you present yourself.

The first impression is made quickly and ruthlessly.

That is why there are professional courses out there to teach you how to make the first impression count.

Could this “Love at first sight” merely be a case of having a good impression of someone within first contact? If that is the case, is it safe to say that you can't fall in love with someone at first sight if the person is physically unattractive and you have a poor impression of?

On the other hand, if the other person is a pretty babe or a handsome hunk, would that mean you have a better chance of falling in love instantly?

In this instance, is that even love we are talking about here or lust?

Some people claim that “Love at first sight” is much deeper than that. It's not just about liking, it's about the feeling and the instant connection you have with the other party.

“When I first set my eyes on her, I knew that she was the girl I wanted to marry.” Is it even possible for that to occur when you don't even know any single bit of detail about the person?

People who fell in love at first sight experience funny feelings where the heart beat faster, they start to be more aware of themselves and suddenly they are very excited.

Why is it that we feel this way?

Perhaps we can get our answer from the way creatures behave in nature.

How do creatures in nature attract each other? They don't fall in love don't they? They merely act upon their instincts. When a potential mate comes along, they will strike. How did our ancestors cavemen fall in love? We don't know but maybe they didn't but just acted upon their instinct.

Could we have inherited this special skill from our primate ancestors? Perhaps evolution simply enhanced this unique ability of ours? The brain sends a signal to the rest of the body to act according when it detects a potential mate?

Maybe we are constantly sending out invisible signals around us. Love at first sight could occur when we received a matching signal from a party of the opposite sex.

Despite the advancement of technology, Scientists are still quite clueless how the human brain works. They believe that this organ of ours is very powerful and have vast potential but most of us are only tapping a small percentage of its ability.

There are people out there who claim to have sixth sense, maybe they were able to tap a bit more of their brain functions. So, perhaps love at first sight is really possible. In those mere seconds of seeing the other person, our brains have already done all the mix and match, the complex calculations and determine that the other person is compatible and a potential mate.

Therefore, subconsciously, we feel that we have fallen in love with that person.

There are a lot of mysteries in the world that are still undiscovered and other topics that are still eagerly debated. Like is there a higher being, GOD? Or does spirits exists?

So far, no one has been able to prove that they exist, yet no one has been able to prove that they don't. Why else would people be coming forward everyday claiming to see spirits of the recently deceased or GOD have spoken to them?

There are things in this world that science cannot explain yet.

Perhaps love at first sight is another of the thing that has no definite answer at the moment.

So the next time you hear a friend say that he/she fell in love at first sight, don't be too skeptical. You never know when it will be your turn to fall in love instantly.

Originally published in 2006