The words love, lust and other emotions: The makeup  to biochemistry to make it look beautiful

by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa

May 26, 2022

The words love, lust and other emotions: The makeup  to biochemistry to make it look beautiful 

Recently one person asked me this Q:  You say you are drunk on science. This is a bit unusual for a woman. Why is  science so important to you? What is the difference between science and other fields that makes science so special?

My biochemistry is giving me  a signal (1). Dopamine and oxytocin! Yes, their concentration is increasing in my system now because  I heard the word 'Science'. 

LOVE. They say this changes everything  including the perspective with which you see the world. I am in love with science. Just the way science wants it. 
So it gives me great pleasure to answer this Q.

 What is the difference between science and other fields that makes science so special? 
I have already answered this Q several times (3). Let me give one more reason now.
Sometime back a story writer of movies and TV serials wrote about science in one of her stories. It was a mixture of misrepresentation of science  and glorifying  pseudo-science. It 's not even science fiction to  tolerate it. Naturally when I come across such things, I get annoyed. Most scientists do! What do these writers want to convey to the general public with such distortions of science? 
So I said two lines criticizing it on a social media site. 
This serial story is very popular among the public. People worship the hero and heroine of the story like a God and a Goddess. That screws their minds and makes them blind and mindless. 
So they didn't see the difference between criticizing the handling of science in the story and onslaught on their 'Gods'. They thought I was attacking their hero.
So these people started rebuking me. It was just a cool me against about 10 very emotionally charged people. But I knew I was right. Factually right. So this 30 minute war of words (between  science knowledge vs ignorance) was leading towards a science's triumph. 
Then one of the fighters used their last weapon. She said, " You seem to have a lot of knowledge about science. But do you know who URK ( one of the people who was fighting with me) is?  She is the writer of this story!"
I didn't know I unintentionally attracted her attention and pulled even the famous writer of the story  with my genuine facts into this  war of words. 
But what made me smile at that moment was these factors 
1. The writer of the story accepted she didn't know much about science - although she argued with me that she was right - by saying she had no time to 'argue' even though she wanted to continue with it despite continuing the fight!
2. The moment people use their 'do you know who we are?' weapon, I know they lost the war.
3. When people are fighting with genuine science, they don't stand a chance of winning provided the person who is using this weapon knows how to handle it perfectly. 
So I said calmly, 'No, I didn't know that. So what? That doesn't make any difference to me. I don't care who is on the other side. Even if I had known who she was in the beginning itself, I would have said the same things". 
This enraged the writer. Did you say 'So what?" , she asked. 
"Yes, I did", I said, again gently, despite knowing fully well that most writers, artists, actors, singers, sports persons, politicians and several other celebrities expect automatic worship, admiration, dedication, praise and mostly a "yes, sir" when they say or do something from the general public. I also know that if they don't get it, they get very annoyed. 
So this writer (and her followers)  expected me to apologize and accept that she was right despite being wrong just because she's a popular person (and they didn't know who I was because I don't use weak weapons).
But science doesn't allow such things. Even if Einstein says Astrology is genuine science, we will attack him in the scientific world mercilessly and bring him back to his senses. That is the difference between the scientific world and the other ones. We give importance to evidence based facts here, not people. 
Just because Trump says global warming is not happening, we will not say, "Yes , sir". 
We will say, "Trump, the US president, said that? So what? He is wrong. Here is our evidence."
Just because your handsome hero says something wrong about science or the writer of the story promotes pseudo-science we will not accept it in the world of science, sorry folks.

Also, writers, poets, artists and actors ( a part of the general public too)  say love and other emotions are beyond science. They think Science cannot understand them. If you write stories strictly following science that doesn't appeal to the general public. Physics, Chemistry and Biology cannot be depicted correctly while dealing with emotions and love. There will be twisting and spinning. So they usually sacrifice science for sensationalism, and their work is riddled with errors. And they say scientists shouldn't object to it.   

If I say this is said by people who don't understand science properly and - most importantly - by those who don't know how to sculpt science in an attractive way to engage people's attention?
These people don't know how to depict reality as it is and therefore create a pseudo-world. That is misleading people very badly and as a result the general public   is failing to differentiate between genuine science and pseudo-science .
Some writers also think raw science is 'unsightly' and cannot captivate curiosity, consideration and concentration of the layman.
So they try to cover the biochemistry of emotions with a makeup  called 'love'. Or  lust, admiration, adoration, aesthetic appreciation, amusement, anger, anxiety, awe, awkwardness, boredom, calmness, confusion, craving, disgust, empathy, pain, entrancement, excitement, fear, horror, interest, joy, nostalgia, relief, romance, sadness, satisfaction, desire, surprise, contempt, contentment, disappointment, distress, jealousy, ecstasy, elation, irrationality, embarrassment, interest, realization. 
Okay, one can twist  the science a bit or give it  a spin in the arts arena but not so much as to completely mislead the public that these emotions are absolutely beyond science or have nothing to do with science. 
Because these emotions are entirely based on science and depend on the biochemistry of organisms. 

One of my colleagues who was watching all this silently told me yesterday, "Krishna, now prove these people wrong. Write a  story with raw science as its theme and show people how that can be carved  charmingly without using any cosmetics. It is a challenge from the art world to the scientific world. Do you accept it?"
I got orders from our Field Marshal. 
Now I know I will have to save my first love. A true soldier cannot say no to the OPORD* and refuse to follow the orders.
 Won't I accept it?  
It takes time because of my busy life. But it will be done! My brain has already entered a creative mode. I am putting on my uniform. 

***************

 
* OPORDs are published for a specific mission, typically some type of operational mission. They are in a five paragraph format, to include the task organization, situation, mission, execution, service & support, and command/signal. An OPORD always specify a date and time for execution. They are typically written, but can also be done verbally or even handwritten. The more complex the mission, the more complex the OPORD. Most OPORDs are published by the commander, but created by the S3 section (2).
An Operations Order, often abbreviated to OPORD, is a plan format meant to assist subordinate units with the conduct of military operations.

An operation order (OPORD) is a directive issued by the leader to his subordinate leaders in order to effect the coordinated execution of a specific operation. A five-paragraph format is used to organize the briefing, to ensure completeness, and to help subordinate leaders understand and follow the order.

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