Is Chris capable of love? -

[DevilDog]

We make a joke of saying how all Chris needs is a hot, short, white, non-autistic, motherly, sex-experienced, bread-winning, DIRTY, CRAPPED BRIEFS-cleaning, woman who overlooks his minor faults to make him happy, but I don't know if he could even make that work. I'm not arguing that he wouldn't be an abusive/horrible husband. But even with the impossibly perfect wife, I think he'd want a divorce after some time, simply because he doesn't understand love. It's kinda hard to flesh out what I mean, but you get the general idea.

 

[Bob's Fries]

We make a joke of saying how all Chris needs is a hot, short, white, non-autistic, motherly, sex-experienced, bread-winning, DIRTY, CRAPPED BRIEFS-cleaning, woman who overlooks his minor faults to make him happy, but I don't know if he could even make that work. I'm not arguing that he wouldn't be an abusive/horrible husband. But even with the impossibly perfect wife, I think he'd want a divorce after some time, simply because he doesn't understand love. It's kinda hard to flesh out what I mean, but you get the general idea.

Same. With his upbringing and his "unique" autistic mental block... I seriously doubt it even if you give him the best of the best. I mean look what happened with Kacey and that other Devoria "jerk".

 

[Null]

I don't think most people are capable of love. I don't know if I am.

 

[Bob's Fries]

I don't think most people are capable of love. I don't know if I am.

That's also true.

Edit: If that is such the case, then does that mean such people are in a similar spectrum? I'm probably over-thinking this.

 

[CatParty]

he wants love, but his warped view of the world would not let him reciprocate it.

 

[Marvin]

What do you mean by love? What kind of love?

 

[BigAltheGreat921]

100 percent unconditional. Where his sweetheart will put up with his laziness and immaturity.

 

[The Hunter]

Well, he's obviously in love with McDonald's and PS3 and his welfare check. Not sure if there's any people that he loves, though.

 

[Marvin]

100 percent unconditional. Where his sweetheart will put up with his laziness and immaturity.

Chris is definitely capable of love. I don't know if I'd describe it as unconditional. There are definitely things that would bother him.

However, that's a moot point because he's so passive in the face of what he perceives as authority that he'd never do anything about it.

 

[DrChristianTroy]

[youtube]VVmbhYKDKfU[/youtube]

Just gonna get this out of the way now....

 

[CatParty]

Well, he's obviously in love with McDonald's and PS3 and his welfare check. Not sure if there's any people that he loves, though.

 

[Bob's Fries]

[youtube]VVmbhYKDKfU[/youtube]

Just gonna get this out of the way now....

Somehow, I knew someone was going to use this.

 

[Alec Benson Leary]

Chris is definitely capable of love.

I'm going to disagree, but you and I might have different definitions of love.

I think Chris is most definitely capable of affection, infatuation, and attachment. Aside from being readily apparent in his behavior and attitudes toward the myriad of people we've seen in his life, those are things that all but the most unsocial animals display. All of those things can be defined by simply saying, "this thing/person makes me happy" or "this person protects me and does things for me". So, nothing special there. We all know Chris is quite capable of determining a difference between those that are useful to him and those that are not.

Now, love I would define as necessarily including a reasoned, intellectual component - it's not just about emotions or attraction. You can be attracted to someone now because you like what they do for you now. I think you can only love someone if you can incorporate a vision of what your relationship with them will be like into the future, not just the here and now, and also - probably more importantly - you need to be able to put the other person ahead of your own desires, and you have to accept the fact that it might not work out or give you what you want, and the other person could let you down even if they don't mean to.

Chris doesn't really ever put anyone else's needs or desires above his own. He doesn't seem to have any concept of what the future practically holds; he's still stuck in a preteen fantasy of perfect ideal love with no hardships or rough spots, and his vision of his future in general is just "I'll be married to a perfect sweetheart who is always happy with me, and we'll have our illustrious daughter crystal mined from the ground of her womb". He doesn't conceptualize any details of how any of this would work, nor does he conceptualize the steps needed to actually get from his current situation to that perfect life. And what's more... Chris sure as hell doesn't understand the idea that sometimes wants and desires fall apart through no fault or malevolent intent of anyone involved. If he had a fight with his sweetheart, it's because she's mean. If she wants him to do something or make a change he doesn't like, it's because she doesn't understand him. If she doesn't want to name her daughter Crystal, it's because she's being fussy, and if she wants Chris to get up in the middle of the night every hour to change diapers and feed the baby because she's tired from the 60-hour workweek she has to do while he sits at home and sleeps til 1 in the afternoon as a "househusband", well then she's snooty and selfish and doesn't understand the torments and stresses placed upon him. None of the imperfect things she does could possibly be because she has good reasons.

He's like a dog or a cat. Your dog might really like you, he might be ecstatic when you come home every day, he might play with you for hours and sleep with you every night, and if you died or disappeared he might be devastated by it. But nonhuman animals can't really think beyond their own needs very well; if your cat is devastated by losing you it's more of a "what am I gonna do now?" rather than a "I'm so sad that terrible thing happened to my owner" thing. Pets may have a lot of affection for you, but I wouldn't say they love you, and I wouldn't say Chris loves you either. I realize my definition of love might be a little stricter than yours, but that's my feeling.

 

[Bugaboo]

Chris will only love someone if they have something to offer him that he doesn't have to work for.
Which is why he liked Patti because she loved him and he pretty much didn't have to do shit.

 

[CatParty]

Chris is definitely capable of love.

I'm going to disagree, but you and I might have different definitions of love.

I think Chris is most definitely capable of affection, infatuation, and attachment. Aside from being readily apparent in his behavior and attitudes toward the myriad of people we've seen in his life, those are things that all but the most unsocial animals display. All of those things can be defined by simply saying, "this thing/person makes me happy" or "this person protects me and does things for me". So, nothing special there. We all know Chris is quite capable of determining a difference between those that are useful to him and those that are not.

Now, love I would define as necessarily including a reasoned, intellectual component - it's not just about emotions or attraction. You can be attracted to someone now because you like what they do for you now. I think you can only love someone if you can incorporate a vision of what your relationship with them will be like into the future, not just the here and now, and also - probably more importantly - you need to be able to put the other person ahead of your own desires, and you have to accept the fact that it might not work out or give you what you want, and the other person could let you down even if they don't mean to.

Chris doesn't really ever put anyone else's needs or desires above his own. He doesn't seem to have any concept of what the future practically holds; he's still stuck in a preteen fantasy of perfect ideal love with no hardships or rough spots, and his vision of his future in general is just "I'll be married to a perfect sweetheart who is always happy with me, and we'll have our illustrious daughter crystal mined from the ground of her womb". He doesn't conceptualize any details of how any of this would work, nor does he conceptualize the steps needed to actually get from his current situation to that perfect life. And what's more... Chris sure as hell doesn't understand the idea that sometimes wants and desires fall apart through no fault or malevolent intent of anyone involved. If he had a fight with his sweetheart, it's because she's mean. If she wants him to do something or make a change he doesn't like, it's because she doesn't understand him. If she doesn't want to name her daughter Crystal, it's because she's being fussy, and if she wants Chris to get up in the middle of the night every hour to change diapers and feed the baby because she's tired from the 60-hour workweek she has to do while he sits at home and sleeps til 1 in the afternoon as a "househusband", well then she's snooty and selfish and doesn't understand the torments and stresses placed upon him. None of the imperfect things she does could possibly be because she has good reasons.

He's like a dog or a cat. Your dog might really like you, he might be ecstatic when you come home every day, he might play with you for hours and sleep with you every night, and if you died or disappeared he might be devastated by it. But nonhuman animals can't really think beyond their own needs very well; if your cat is devastated by losing you it's more of a "what am I gonna do now?" rather than a "I'm so sad that terrible thing happened to my owner" thing. Pets may have a lot of affection for you, but I wouldn't say they love you, and I wouldn't say Chris loves you either. I realize my definition of love might be a little stricter than yours, but that's my feeling.

***slow clap*** that was amazing and exactly what i believe too

 

[snowkitten91]

Love? As in caring about another human being's feelings and wanting to make said human being happy without expecting anything in return since, as long as that other person is happy, you'll be as well?

No.

 

[Marvin]

Love? As in caring about another human being's feelings and wanting to make said human being happy without expecting anything in return since, as long as that other person is happy, you'll be as well?

No.

I've never heard of that definition of love. It's ridiculously strict.

No one loves their parents by that definition, for example.

 

[Uzumaki]

Love? As in caring about another human being's feelings and wanting to make said human being happy without expecting anything in return since, as long as that other person is happy, you'll be as well?

No.

I've never heard of that definition of love. It's ridiculously strict.

No one loves their parents by that definition, for example.

Love is a really inadequate word that refers to a number of distinct emotions. Nobody would claim that the love between two lovers is the same as the love of a child for their parent, or even that the love of a parent for their child is the same as the child to the parent. Unless I'm completely mistaken this thread is more about the more selfless idealistic version of love. One of the "higher emotions" that separate humans from animals or somesuch noise.

 

[Seahorses]

He loves himself. Doesn't that count?

 

[Marvin]

Love? As in caring about another human being's feelings and wanting to make said human being happy without expecting anything in return since, as long as that other person is happy, you'll be as well?

No.

I've never heard of that definition of love. It's ridiculously strict.

No one loves their parents by that definition, for example.

Love is a really inadequate word that refers to a number of distinct emotions. Nobody would claim that the love between two lovers is the same as the love of a child for their parent, or even that the love of a parent for their child is the same as the child to the parent. Unless I'm completely mistaken this thread is more about the more selfless idealistic version of love. One of the "higher emotions" that separate humans from animals or somesuch noise.

But that version of love pretty much doesn't exist. Alec and I were discussing this a moment ago and he brought up the great example of Romeo and Juliet. That's a tv stereotype. Hell, it's the exact kind of stuff that Chris believes in because of all the tv he watches.