Which is more powerful? Love or Hate?

[missy]

Do you think love more powerful than hate? Or is hate more powerful than love?

 

[msop04]

Good question... I'm not really sure, but it seems like more actions are driven by hate.

 

[lovedogs]

Love? Maybe? I know when I look at DH or my dogs I feel like my heart is going to explode with all the love that's crammed in there. So I hope love is stronger.

 

[ruby59]

Hate is stronger because it can lead to wars and death.

 

[missy]

I will share my thoughts on this topic right now (and I say right now because before I thought of this topic today I had never thought about it before) and I reserve the right to change them at any time by the way because I am not completely sure. But my thoughts are, at this moment, that it can be either depending on the strength of the love or the hate. It depends.

I feel hate can be the most poisonous and cause the most damage of course but love can help heal hate making love the stronger of the 2. Now I am not talking about people who cannot feel love because that is a real thing and I am not sure if sociopath or psychopath is the right term but it has to do with antisocial personality disorder. I think. And anyway that would be the exception because love cannot heal that since they cannot feel empathy or real love as I understand it. I could be wrong but that is how I interpret that disorder.

 

[tyty333]

My initial thought is hate but I also reserve the right to change my mind!

 

[lovedogs]

I will share my thoughts on this topic right now (and I say right now because before I thought of this topic today I had never thought about it before) and I reserve the right to change them at any time by the way because I am not completely sure. But my thoughts are, at this moment, that it can be either depending on the strength of the love or the hate. It depends.

I feel hate can be the most poisonous and cause the most damage of course but love can help heal hate making love the stronger of the 2. Now I am not talking about people who cannot feel love because that is a real thing and I am not sure if sociopath or psychopath is the right term but it has to do with antisocial personality disorder. I think. And anyway that would be the exception because love cannot heal that since they cannot feel empathy or real love as I understand it. I could be wrong but that is how I interpret that disorder.

Anti-social personality disorder (ASPD) is the diagnosis that is typically thought to go along with psychopathy. It's more that they don't care t9 understand other's feelings, are often callous, and tend to believe rules don't apply to them. So it isn't quite that they can't feel love itself, but more that they just are unaffected by other people's feelings and seem to have a limited capacity to feel empathy. Sorry, Psychologist nerd coming out here!

 

[marcy]

That is a tough call but I voted for hate. Both hate and love and drive people to do extreme things but IMO I think hate brings out an uglier side of people.

 

[missy]

Thanks lovedogs! Pscyhology fascinates me and one of my desires is to go back to school and take psychology and philosophy courses. My liberal arts education maybe not as well rounded as I would have liked and in fact to answer my other thread what I would do differently haha. I would have taken a bit less science and more philosophy and psychology courses. But there was no time or room in my premed schedule argghhh! But I digress. Not too late right?

 

[missy]

That is a tough call but I voted for hate. Both hate and love and drive people to do extreme things but IMO I think hate brings out an uglier side of people.

Hi Marcy! Yes that is so true. Hate is ugly and can be so powerful. I guess I just want to believe that love can overcome hate but in reality I don't really know the answer to this question. I think people who hate very intensely and strongly could have been people who suffered heinous trauma and that is why they hate so strongly. But just a theory.

 

[missy]

My initial thought is hate but I also reserve the right to change my mind!

Haha I like the way you think. Covering all bases can't hurt.

 

[Calliecake]

Great question Missy. I wish I knew what the answer is. I would like to believe love is more powerful. However when I look at the awful things that happen around the world because of hatred I have my doubts. On the other hand when I remember all the kindness and love people showed each other after 911, I go right back to thinking love is more powerful. As you can see I have no idea which is more powerful but I want to believe Love is more powerful.

 

[missy]

Thanks Callie. As usual we are on the same page.
So I don't know if anyone noticed but I tried starting a poll using our new format. Did anyone see that and vote? I haven't voted yet since I wasn't sure of the answer but I enabled the ability to change one's answers so...plus it is private (I hope lol) so no one will know who and which way they voted.

 

[missy]

OK I see people have voted and we just have to hit view results. Success!

 

[jaaron]

I think both can sneak up in surprising ways, so I would say it differs depending on the person, the moment. I do think that love--I don't think that waxes and wanes is exactly the right phrasing--but changes form over time. Whereas unless hate is acted upon, I think it tends to burn at a hotter, unchanged, intensity for longer.

I wonder if the question is more one of passion than love or hate? With love, I think it's inevitable that you can't maintain the exact same level of passion over a long term, it will have ups and downs, but I have certainly known people who have hated with a passion that never seemed to let up.

 

[missy]

I think both can sneak up in surprising ways, so I would say it differs depending on the person, the moment. I do think that love--I don't think that waxes and wanes is exactly the right phrasing--but changes form over time. Whereas unless hate is acted upon, I think it tends to burn at a hotter, unchanged, intensity for longer.

I wonder if the question is more one of passion than love or hate? With love, I think it's inevitable that you can't maintain the exact same level of passion over a long term, it will have ups and downs, but I have certainly known people who have hated with a passion that never seemed to let up.

Jaaron that is a good point. I was speaking of strong and true love when I asked the question hate vs love but you are right. For some hate burns with an ever lasting intensity that doesn't let up through the years. Whereas love is rarely like that. Thanks for sharing your thoughts!

 

[Tacori E-ring]

Unfortunately I think hate is stronger than love.

 

[Polished]

Love. I think in humans this is the stronger urge. I know i can have all sorts of dark thoughts about someone and the way they have behaved over something. As soon as they show a sign of conceding in some way, even if it doesn't involve admitting to anything, I'm there to meet them more than half way. The dark thoughts about them go and I enjoy those lovely feelings of inner peace again. We had an incident recently with a family member over something quite big. She argued for something unreasonable, we stuck to our guns, she had the grace to drop it and then had the guts after it all to come over on her own with a present and hugs for my DH on his birthday. Not just good but better relations than before has been established. The urge to forgive can be strong but it happens in an environment of both parties conceding.

I have more extreme examples of where love triumphed over hate, to do with my sister-in-law's mother who was in a concentration camp during the second world war. She thrived after the war, in part, by choosing to focus on the many acts of kindness and solidarity that the other women, in the camp, bestowed on each other during that time.

 

[azstonie]

Love and hate are intense emotions, for me, and in my case love is long lasting, and I tend to ratchet hatred down over time.

 

[kenny]

Interesting to think about, but IMO there is no single true answer to such a question.

 

[Kbell]

I've always been a romantic so for me it's LOVE.
I love more than hate ( don't really hate anyone...) and most people I know love more people than they hate. I would do anything I can for loved ones & am not motivated to do anything out of hate. Even those I strongly dislike don't instill enough of any feeling to act negatively on. Hate is such a strong word. I feel like those who truly feel hatred towards other human beings must be so unhappy... and love can cure unhappiness... a lot of people act out of fear (justified or not) not really hatred.

 

[ksinger]

A quick drive-by...

No one has defined what "power" means. Is it power over? Or power with? Or some combination of both? Defining the word is pretty core to any discussion of which is more powerful.

And for some reason, the title of this thread made me immediately start reciting this in my head.

Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.
From what I’ve tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire.
But if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice.

 

[monarch64]

I've always been a romantic so for me it's LOVE.
I love more than hate ( don't really hate anyone...) and most people I know love more people than they hate. I would do anything I can for loved ones & am not motivated to do anything out of hate. Even those I strongly dislike don't instill enough of any feeling to act negatively on. Hate is such a strong word. I feel like those who truly feel hatred towards other human beings must be so unhappy... and love can cure unhappiness... a lot of people act out of fear (justified or not) not really hatred.

I agree with this. I think people also mistake love for fear, as in they feel so strongly about their loved ones and want to protect them from all the perceived "evils" of the world that they act out based on that. I also think people can be taught to hate, when they are not necessarily hateful people. To me, love is the stronger of the two. People write songs about love, you know? Not a lot of popular songs out there about hate.

EVER THE OPTIMIST AREN'T I.

 

[VapidLapid]

I am not sure that love and hate are two sides of the same coin. Their actions are different. They come from different places and go to different goals. Yes they may affect the other if the one crossed the other's path, but their natures are essentially other. If I plant an apple seed I maybe concerned with the germination and safety of the seedling, but not so much with the chances of it producing sour oranges.

 

[PintoBean]

Love is more powerful, why?
When two people make love they can potentially create another being.

When two people act out in hate sometimes only one person emerges from that act of hate.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Oh, love, absolutely! There's plenty of hate, but love is the greatest human emotion.

 

[CJ2008]

I think hate because hate is driven by anger. Love can be intense but anger's intensity is different. I feel like true love has a calm quality to it. It's positive. In general I think we tend to do more extreme things when negative emotions fuel us than positive ones.

 

[missy]

Love. I think in humans this is the stronger urge. I know i can have all sorts of dark thoughts about someone and the way they have behaved over something. As soon as they show a sign of conceding in some way, even if it doesn't involve admitting to anything, I'm there to meet them more than half way. The dark thoughts about them go and I enjoy those lovely feelings of inner peace again. We had an incident recently with a family member over something quite big. She argued for something unreasonable, we stuck to our guns, she had the grace to drop it and then had the guts after it all to come over on her own with a present and hugs for my DH on his birthday. Not just good but better relations than before has been established. The urge to forgive can be strong but it happens in an environment of both parties conceding.

I have more extreme examples of where love triumphed over hate, to do with my sister-in-law's mother who was in a concentration camp during the second world war. She thrived after the war, in part, by choosing to focus on the many acts of kindness and solidarity that the other women, in the camp, bestowed on each other during that time.

Polished, thank you for your thoughtful post. I love what you wrote and agree. We are programmed to develop deep connections I think and yes the urge to forgive and the desire for loving and caring are strong in most of us. What you wrote resonates with me and you are right in that if someone has done something wrong or unreasonable towards me I am so quick for forgive if they show the slightest bit of remorse. I am glad you were able to work it out with that family member. May love always triumph over hate. And that example of your MIL during WWII is perfect. Hate can destroy us if we let it but love and kindness can beat hate if we let it.

 

[missy]

I think hate because hate is driven by anger. Love can be intense but anger's intensity is different. I feel like true love has a calm quality to it. It's positive. In general I think we tend to do more extreme things when negative emotions fuel us than positive ones.

I agree with this CJ. And sometimes hating feels so good right? LOL I don't know why but sometimes it just feels good. But love feels better and hate can eat away at our insides and I think love has the ability to heal us or at least make things better. Not an easy question but right now my thoughts are that hate and love only have the amount of power the individual person feeling it gives it if that makes sense. Sometimes hate can be ended by a thoughtful word or action or the other party or both parties truly being sorry and then there are other examples of love being unwavering in it's single mindedness and intensity so IMO it could go either way. But yes I feel more damage can be done via hate vs love but again I think it depends on the individual.

 

[missy]

Oh, love, absolutely! There's plenty of hate, but love is the greatest human emotion.

Yes this is what I think too and I want to believe love can overcome hate and in my heart I hope it is so.


Sorry I cannot seem to work the multi quote feature today. It's getting messy so just doing individual posts for now.