TedTest

From the Ted Talk by Skye C. Cleary: Why do we love? A philosophical inquiry

Unscramble the Blue Letters

Ah, romantic love - beautiful and inxtoncaiitg, heartbreaking and soul-crushing, often all at the same time. Why do we choose to put ourselves through its emotional wringer? Does love make our lives meaningful, or is it an escape from our lsnneleios and suffering? Is love a disguise for our sexual desire, or a trick of biology to make us pectaorre? Is it all we need? Do we need it at all? If romantic love has a purpose, neither science nor psychology has discovered it yet. But over the course of history, some of our most respected philosophers have put forward some intriguing theories. Love makes us whole, again. The ancient gerek philosopher patlo explored the idea that we love in order to become cltoempe. In his "Symposium", he wrtoe about a dinner party, at which Aristophanes, a comic playwright, regales the guests with the following story: humans were once creatures with four arms, four legs, and two fecas. One day, they agenerd the gods, and Zeus sliced them all in two. Since then, every perosn has been missing half of him or herself. Love is the longing to find a soulmate who'll make us feel whole again, or, at least, that's what Plato believed a duenkrn cimdaoen would say at a party. Love tricks us into having babies. Much, much later, gmraen pepohliohsr Arthur Schopenhauer maintained that love based in sexual desire was a voluptuous illusion. He suggested that we love because our desires lead us to believe that another person will make us happy, but we are sorely mistaken. Nature is tricking us into procreating, and the loving fusion we seek is cuaemomntsd in our children. When our sexual desires are sfesitiad, we are thrown back into our tnereomtd existences, and we scecued only in minnaiitnag the species and perpetuating the cycle of haumn drudgery. Sounds like somebody needs a hug. Love is escape from our loneliness. According to the Nobel Prize-winning British philosopher Bertrand Russell, we love in oderr to quecnh our physical and psychological desires. Humans are designed to procreate, but without the ecstasy of passionate love, sex is unsatisfying. Our fear of the cold, cruel world tempts us to build hard sllehs to protect and isolate ourselves. Love's delight, intimacy, and wtrmah helps us omvcoere our fear of the wrlod, escape our lonely shells, and engage more abundantly in life. Love enriches our whole being, making it the best thing in life. Love is a misleading affiioltcn. Siddhārtha Gautama, who became known as the Buddha, or the Enlightened One, probably would have had some interesting arguments with Russell. bhduda proposed that we love because we are trying to satisfy our base desires. Yet, our passionate cravings are defects, and attachments, even romantic love, are a garet source of suffering. luilcky, Buddha discovered the eight-fold path, a sort of program for extinguishing the fires of dirsee so that we can reach Nirvana, an etglneehind state of pceae, cailtry, wisdom, and compassion. The novelist Cao Xueqin ieartllustd this Buddhist smnietent that ramtnioc love is folly in one of China's greatest classical novels, "Dream of the Red Chamber." In a slobupt, Jia Rui falls in love with Xi-feng who tricks and humiliates him. Conflicting emotions of love and hate tear him apart, so a Taoist gives him a magic mirror that can cure him as long as he doesn't look at the front of it. But of course, he looks at the front of it. He sees Xi-feng. His soul enters the mirror and he is drgegad away in iron chains to die. Not all Buddhists think this way about romantic and eiortc love, but the moral of this story is that such attachments spell tgdraey, and should, along with magic mirrors, be avoided. Love lets us reach beyond ourselves. Let's end on a slightly more positive note. The French philosopher snmioe de Beauvoir proposed that love is the desire to intgrteae with another and that it infuses our lives with meaning. However, she was less concerned with why we love and more interested in how we can love better. She saw that the problem with traditional romantic love is it can be so captivating, that we are tempted to make it our only reason for being. Yet, dependence on another to jtfsiuy our eisxnetce easily leads to boredom and power games. To avoid this trap, Beauvoir aevdsid loving authentically, which is more like a great friendship. leorvs supropt each other in discovering themselves, reaching beyond themselves, and enriching their lives and the world together. Though we might never know why we fall in love, we can be certain that it will be an emotional rollercoaster ride. It's scary and exhilarating. It makes us suffer and makes us soar. Maybe we lose ourselves. Maybe we find ourselves. It might be heartbreaking, or it might just be the best thing in life. Will you dare to find out?

Open Cloze

Ah, romantic love - beautiful and ____________, heartbreaking and soul-crushing, often all at the same time. Why do we choose to put ourselves through its emotional wringer? Does love make our lives meaningful, or is it an escape from our __________ and suffering? Is love a disguise for our sexual desire, or a trick of biology to make us _________? Is it all we need? Do we need it at all? If romantic love has a purpose, neither science nor psychology has discovered it yet. But over the course of history, some of our most respected philosophers have put forward some intriguing theories. Love makes us whole, again. The ancient _____ philosopher _____ explored the idea that we love in order to become ________. In his "Symposium", he _____ about a dinner party, at which Aristophanes, a comic playwright, regales the guests with the following story: humans were once creatures with four arms, four legs, and two _____. One day, they _______ the gods, and Zeus sliced them all in two. Since then, every ______ has been missing half of him or herself. Love is the longing to find a soulmate who'll make us feel whole again, or, at least, that's what Plato believed a _______ ________ would say at a party. Love tricks us into having babies. Much, much later, ______ ___________ Arthur Schopenhauer maintained that love based in sexual desire was a voluptuous illusion. He suggested that we love because our desires lead us to believe that another person will make us happy, but we are sorely mistaken. Nature is tricking us into procreating, and the loving fusion we seek is ___________ in our children. When our sexual desires are _________, we are thrown back into our _________ existences, and we _______ only in ___________ the species and perpetuating the cycle of _____ drudgery. Sounds like somebody needs a hug. Love is escape from our loneliness. According to the Nobel Prize-winning British philosopher Bertrand Russell, we love in _____ to ______ our physical and psychological desires. Humans are designed to procreate, but without the ecstasy of passionate love, sex is unsatisfying. Our fear of the cold, cruel world tempts us to build hard ______ to protect and isolate ourselves. Love's delight, intimacy, and ______ helps us ________ our fear of the _____, escape our lonely shells, and engage more abundantly in life. Love enriches our whole being, making it the best thing in life. Love is a misleading __________. Siddhārtha Gautama, who became known as the Buddha, or the Enlightened One, probably would have had some interesting arguments with Russell. ______ proposed that we love because we are trying to satisfy our base desires. Yet, our passionate cravings are defects, and attachments, even romantic love, are a _____ source of suffering. _______, Buddha discovered the eight-fold path, a sort of program for extinguishing the fires of ______ so that we can reach Nirvana, an ___________ state of _____, _______, wisdom, and compassion. The novelist Cao Xueqin ___________ this Buddhist _________ that ________ love is folly in one of China's greatest classical novels, "Dream of the Red Chamber." In a _______, Jia Rui falls in love with Xi-feng who tricks and humiliates him. Conflicting emotions of love and hate tear him apart, so a Taoist gives him a magic mirror that can cure him as long as he doesn't look at the front of it. But of course, he looks at the front of it. He sees Xi-feng. His soul enters the mirror and he is _______ away in iron chains to die. Not all Buddhists think this way about romantic and ______ love, but the moral of this story is that such attachments spell _______, and should, along with magic mirrors, be avoided. Love lets us reach beyond ourselves. Let's end on a slightly more positive note. The French philosopher ______ de Beauvoir proposed that love is the desire to _________ with another and that it infuses our lives with meaning. However, she was less concerned with why we love and more interested in how we can love better. She saw that the problem with traditional romantic love is it can be so captivating, that we are tempted to make it our only reason for being. Yet, dependence on another to _______ our _________ easily leads to boredom and power games. To avoid this trap, Beauvoir _______ loving authentically, which is more like a great friendship. ______ _______ each other in discovering themselves, reaching beyond themselves, and enriching their lives and the world together. Though we might never know why we fall in love, we can be certain that it will be an emotional rollercoaster ride. It's scary and exhilarating. It makes us suffer and makes us soar. Maybe we lose ourselves. Maybe we find ourselves. It might be heartbreaking, or it might just be the best thing in life. Will you dare to find out?

Solution

german
complete
desire
comedian
philosopher
angered
justify
tragedy
maintaining
enlightened
human
affliction
luckily
support
warmth
succeed
consummated
illustrated
loneliness
great
existence
simone
subplot
advised
erotic
peace
faces
romantic
tormented
overcome
shells
wrote
intoxicating
lovers
sentiment
quench
world
dragged
greek
order
drunken
plato
person
clarity
integrate
procreate
buddha
satisfied

Original Text

Ah, romantic love - beautiful and intoxicating, heartbreaking and soul-crushing, often all at the same time. Why do we choose to put ourselves through its emotional wringer? Does love make our lives meaningful, or is it an escape from our loneliness and suffering? Is love a disguise for our sexual desire, or a trick of biology to make us procreate? Is it all we need? Do we need it at all? If romantic love has a purpose, neither science nor psychology has discovered it yet. But over the course of history, some of our most respected philosophers have put forward some intriguing theories. Love makes us whole, again. The ancient Greek philosopher Plato explored the idea that we love in order to become complete. In his "Symposium", he wrote about a dinner party, at which Aristophanes, a comic playwright, regales the guests with the following story: humans were once creatures with four arms, four legs, and two faces. One day, they angered the gods, and Zeus sliced them all in two. Since then, every person has been missing half of him or herself. Love is the longing to find a soulmate who'll make us feel whole again, or, at least, that's what Plato believed a drunken comedian would say at a party. Love tricks us into having babies. Much, much later, German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer maintained that love based in sexual desire was a voluptuous illusion. He suggested that we love because our desires lead us to believe that another person will make us happy, but we are sorely mistaken. Nature is tricking us into procreating, and the loving fusion we seek is consummated in our children. When our sexual desires are satisfied, we are thrown back into our tormented existences, and we succeed only in maintaining the species and perpetuating the cycle of human drudgery. Sounds like somebody needs a hug. Love is escape from our loneliness. According to the Nobel Prize-winning British philosopher Bertrand Russell, we love in order to quench our physical and psychological desires. Humans are designed to procreate, but without the ecstasy of passionate love, sex is unsatisfying. Our fear of the cold, cruel world tempts us to build hard shells to protect and isolate ourselves. Love's delight, intimacy, and warmth helps us overcome our fear of the world, escape our lonely shells, and engage more abundantly in life. Love enriches our whole being, making it the best thing in life. Love is a misleading affliction. Siddhārtha Gautama, who became known as the Buddha, or the Enlightened One, probably would have had some interesting arguments with Russell. Buddha proposed that we love because we are trying to satisfy our base desires. Yet, our passionate cravings are defects, and attachments, even romantic love, are a great source of suffering. Luckily, Buddha discovered the eight-fold path, a sort of program for extinguishing the fires of desire so that we can reach Nirvana, an enlightened state of peace, clarity, wisdom, and compassion. The novelist Cao Xueqin illustrated this Buddhist sentiment that romantic love is folly in one of China's greatest classical novels, "Dream of the Red Chamber." In a subplot, Jia Rui falls in love with Xi-feng who tricks and humiliates him. Conflicting emotions of love and hate tear him apart, so a Taoist gives him a magic mirror that can cure him as long as he doesn't look at the front of it. But of course, he looks at the front of it. He sees Xi-feng. His soul enters the mirror and he is dragged away in iron chains to die. Not all Buddhists think this way about romantic and erotic love, but the moral of this story is that such attachments spell tragedy, and should, along with magic mirrors, be avoided. Love lets us reach beyond ourselves. Let's end on a slightly more positive note. The French philosopher Simone de Beauvoir proposed that love is the desire to integrate with another and that it infuses our lives with meaning. However, she was less concerned with why we love and more interested in how we can love better. She saw that the problem with traditional romantic love is it can be so captivating, that we are tempted to make it our only reason for being. Yet, dependence on another to justify our existence easily leads to boredom and power games. To avoid this trap, Beauvoir advised loving authentically, which is more like a great friendship. Lovers support each other in discovering themselves, reaching beyond themselves, and enriching their lives and the world together. Though we might never know why we fall in love, we can be certain that it will be an emotional rollercoaster ride. It's scary and exhilarating. It makes us suffer and makes us soar. Maybe we lose ourselves. Maybe we find ourselves. It might be heartbreaking, or it might just be the best thing in life. Will you dare to find out?

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations

ngrams of length 2

collocation	frequency
romantic love	4
life love	2

Important Words

abundantly
advised
affliction
ah
ancient
angered
arguments
aristophanes
arms
arthur
attachments
authentically
avoid
avoided
babies
base
based
beautiful
beauvoir
believed
bertrand
biology
boredom
british
buddha
buddhist
buddhists
build
cao
captivating
chains
chamber
children
choose
clarity
classical
cold
comedian
comic
compassion
complete
concerned
conflicting
consummated
cravings
creatures
cruel
cure
cycle
day
de
defects
delight
dependence
designed
desire
desires
die
dinner
discovered
discovering
disguise
dragged
drudgery
drunken
easily
ecstasy
emotional
emotions
engage
enlightened
enriches
enriching
enters
erotic
escape
exhilarating
existence
existences
explored
extinguishing
faces
fall
falls
fear
feel
find
fires
folly
french
friendship
front
fusion
games
gautama
german
gods
great
greatest
greek
guests
happy
hard
hate
heartbreaking
helps
history
hug
human
humans
humiliates
idea
illusion
illustrated
infuses
integrate
interested
interesting
intimacy
intoxicating
intriguing
iron
isolate
jia
justify
lead
leads
legs
lets
life
lives
loneliness
lonely
long
longing
lose
love
lovers
loving
luckily
magic
maintained
maintaining
making
meaning
meaningful
mirror
mirrors
misleading
missing
mistaken
moral
nature
nirvana
nobel
note
novelist
novels
order
overcome
party
passionate
path
peace
perpetuating
person
philosopher
philosophers
physical
plato
playwright
positive
power
problem
procreate
procreating
program
proposed
protect
psychological
psychology
purpose
put
quench
reach
reaching
reason
red
regales
respected
ride
rollercoaster
romantic
rui
russell
satisfied
satisfy
scary
schopenhauer
science
seek
sees
sentiment
sex
sexual
shells
siddhārtha
simone
sliced
slightly
soar
sorely
sort
soul
soulmate
sounds
source
species
spell
state
story
subplot
succeed
suffer
suffering
suggested
support
taoist
tear
tempted
tempts
theories
thrown
time
tormented
traditional
tragedy
trap
trick
tricking
tricks
unsatisfying
voluptuous
warmth
wisdom
world
wringer
wrote
xueqin
zeus