I think my snake loves me

[Shaun J]

If one more person votes for " My snake loves me." I'm just going to give up snakes lol. Forget jumping from a cliff.

J/K I 'm not going to give up my snakes because some people don't get it.

[mr~python]

can the people that voted "i know my snake loves me!" please define love and how your snakes loves you to me?

[RWillinnable]

can the people that voted "i know my snake loves me!" please define love and how your snakes loves you to me?

I already did.

[Shaun J]

No, you explained how they can feel secure and not scared of people. That doesn't mean they love you. That just means they are tolerating handling...

[shhhli]

So, you are saying that love, whatever that term may mean or whatever you think it means, is incapable of emerging from any lower level functioning area of the brain. Or if you prefer Freudian terms, love can only spring from the Ego. I disagree.

I think the main problem with this discussion, other than the sophomoric glee people are extracting from their feelings of supposed superiority to others, is that the word love is by far the most overly used word in the English language. Do I think a snake is capable of love like romantic love? Of course not. Do I think a snake is capable of love like the love that The Christ or The Buddha had for the world? Absolutely not. Do I even think that a snake can feel empathy? Again, no. But can a snake feel safe, secure, emboldened, and not threatened by another being living in close proximity to it? Yes, I do. And those feelings are some of the feelings that I ascribe to the word love.

The idea of love encompasses many things. To extract love of all but its logical and emotional elements is to diminish it.

do what now??
i do not believe for a minute that feeling secure or emboldened or safe are a definiton of love. i have never won a debate and gone "wow, i feel empowered LOVE YES" or some other .. thing that has caused emboldenment in my own personal self. yes love is very over used- but those words, they have no relation to the word love, they can be put into a sentence with the word love- but as far as someone using the word 'secure' as a synonym for love. nope.


Dictionary dot com:
and i hope im not diminishing it..?
1. a profoundly tender, passionate affection for another person.
2. a feeling of warm personal attachment or deep affection, as for a parent, child, or friend.
3. sexual passion or desire.
4. a person toward whom love is felt; beloved person; sweetheart.
5. (used in direct address as a term of endearment, affection, or the like): Would you like to see a movie, love?
6. a love affair; an intensely amorous incident; amour.
7. sexual intercourse; copulation.
8. (initial capital letter) a personification of sexual affection, as Eros or Cupid.
9. affectionate concern for the well-being of others: the love of one's neighbor.
10. strong predilection, enthusiasm, or liking for anything: her love of books.
11. the object or thing so liked: The theater was her great love.
12. the benevolent affection of God for His creatures, or the reverent affection due from them to God.
13. Chiefly Tennis. a score of zero; nothing.
14. a word formerly used in communications to represent the letter L.
–verb (used with object) 15. to have love or affection for: All her pupils love her.
16. to have a profoundly tender, passionate affection for (another person).
17. to have a strong liking for; take great pleasure in: to love music.
18. to need or require; benefit greatly from: Plants love sunlight.
19. to embrace and kiss (someone), as a lover.
20. to have sexual intercourse with.
–verb (used without object) 21. to have love or affection for another person; be in love.
—Verb phrase22. love up, to hug and cuddle: She loves him up every chance she gets.
—Idioms23. for love, a. out of affection or liking; for pleasure.
b. without compensation; gratuitously: He took care of the poor for love.

24. for the love of, in consideration of; for the sake of: For the love of mercy, stop that noise.
25. in love, infused with or feeling deep affection or passion: a youth always in love.
26. in love with, feeling deep affection or passion for (a person, idea, occupation, etc.); enamored of: in love with the girl next door; in love with one's work.
27. make love, a. to embrace and kiss as lovers.
b. to engage in sexual activity.

28. no love lost, dislike; animosity: There was no love lost between the two brothers.


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[Origin: bef. 900; (n.) ME; OE lufu, c. OFris luve, OHG luba, Goth lubō; (v.) ME lov(i)en, OE lufian; c. OFris luvia, OHG lubōn to love, L lubēre (later libēre) to be pleasing; akin to lief]


—Synonyms 1. tenderness, fondness, predilection, warmth, passion, adoration. 1, 2. Love, affection, devotion all mean a deep and enduring emotional regard, usually for another person. Love may apply to various kinds of regard: the charity of the Creator, reverent adoration toward God or toward a person, the relation of parent and child, the regard of friends for each other, romantic feelings for another person, etc. Affection is a fondness for others that is enduring and tender, but calm. Devotion is an intense love and steadfast, enduring loyalty to a person; it may also imply consecration to a cause. 2. liking, inclination, regard, friendliness. 15. like. 16. adore, adulate, worship.
—Antonyms 1, 2. hatred, dislike. 15, 16. detest, hate.

now, if you feel that some how we are taking bits of 'love' and forgetting others i am for one a bit offended. i have several types of love- for my boyfriend who i intend to spend the rest of my life with and endow a great deal of my heart and emotion- the love for my family, friends, pets and things that i enjoy to do at leasure- i am sorry, i do not feel in any shape form or fashion that anything a snake will feel or 'think' comes anywhere near any of those i have just described.

one might say that #10 could support your ideas BUT lets look at it a bit closer.
My Snake LOVES his tree limb.
reasons:
-stake out for prey
-protection from predators
-temperature/climate

you could say that that, is, indeed love but i have sever doubts, why? because the snake did not decide on that tree branch. through experience, location, or bodily needs did that snake pick that tree branch. only does it continue to go to the branch is because it -knows- it can get the food better and have a higher predatory success rate OR that it feels for the time being THAT is the location of safety when it is just as likely to hide anywhere else and FINALLY its BODY is telling it it needs that temperature, that humidity that basking spot RIGHT NOW for its on life's purposes. later its body will tell it to go higher or lower. snakes imo are like an organic machine, living breathing and deserving of the care and effort we bestow upon them, but a machine none the less.
eat. sleep. poop. shed. mate. reproduce. survive.

[Shaun J]

I would rep you for that awesome response, but I got this...

"You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to shhhli again."

[snakey68]

geez I never thought 10 straight jackets would be rquired but it's heading that way

very amusing this has turned out to be ( forked tongue firmly in cheek )

[shhhli]

geez I never thought 10 straight jackets would be rquired but it's heading that way

very amusing this has turned out to be ( forked tongue firmly in cheek )

*poke poke* i love your icon

bpkid: aren't you just the sweetest! lol.. spread it around...

[4Khan]

my bps love nice warm weanlings!

thats for damn sure!

[mr~python]

my bps love nice warm weanlings!

thats for damn sure!

thats what im talkin about.