The Scientification of Love (Hardcover)

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Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Why do all cultures ritually disrupt the first contact between mother and new-born baby? Why has there hitherto been an evolutionary advantage in developing human potential for aggression rather than the capacity to love? Until recently love was the realm of poets, artists and philosophers. Latterly it has been studied from multiple scientific perspectives. Michel Odent argues that the specialist approach has overlooked the importance of love as a potential new strategy for human survival, and that the old survival strategy, the domination of nature and other human groups, is no longer appropriate. By weaving together data from a multitude of disciplines, Michel Odent, is able to offer a number of insightful, and exciting explanations, and makes the case for the adoption of radical new strategies for human survival.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 130 pages
• Publisher: Free Association Books (1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1853434760
• ISBN-13: 978-1853434761
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #607,446 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

44 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars oxytocin writ large for more loving humans, March 11, 2000

By	Frangoise Dr Frangoise Barbira Freedman Affil... (UK) - See all my reviews

Under a deceptively simple and small format, this is perhaps the most sophisticated and far-ranging of all Michel Odent's books until now. It brings together Michel's clinical experience of uninterfered human birth with his more recent research on the links between 'primal' experiences - before birth, around birth and in the first year-, and well being later on in life, with thought-provoking insights in every single chapter. While some readers may already be aware of the importance of oxytocin, the 'hormone of love', and endorphins in all apsects of human sexuality including lactation, the book explores their role in a wider concept of love that encompasses maternal love as prototype of all love and mystical emotions in altered states of consciousness. A very wide range of evidence from the biological and other sciences as well as the humanities is brought together in a logical sequence of chapters followed by both a summary of each argument and a list of references. The cross-section of scientific papers included is impressive and keeps the reader on track to catch a glimpse of the whole, the 'unbroken mirror' of human behaviour. From a review of studies of oxytocin receptors in and outside the brain to the relevance of the disputed 'aquatic ape theory' and the salience of comparable features in the births of Buddha and Jesus, there is a concordance which specialist readers should remain open to. The argument is anything but a reductionist one; the more extensive our analysis of the molecular level, -the'scientification' of love-, the greater our understanding of how malleable the hormonal balance of humans as social beings can be.

For a long time, Michel Odent has been interested in culture from the perspective of birth and the handling of infants around the time of birth. One of the main hypotheses in this book, -quite a large piece of the mirror-, is that interference with the birth process can be linked historically with a long phase of human evolution in which aggressiveness was adaptive; yet 'homo ecologicus' has everything to gain from a full dose of love hormones at the start of life. As an anthropologist who has witnessed in her lifetime the undisturbed birthing of Amazonian forest people, then the havoc caused by enforced medicalisation and now the conscious but difficult revaluing of native ways, I endorse Michel's argument as the mnessage it also is. His book is an optimist one. It absolutely relies on reason and knowledge to expose how the physiological reduction of neocortical control during labour, -only possible if mothers are secure-, does not only facilitate the release and action of oxytocin during birth but also provides a starting point for harnessing the energies of love heralded by Teilhard de Chardin, in new cultural forms.

31 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A book that will change the way you look at love &birthing, November 9, 1999

By	Debra Pascali-Bonaro (New Jersey) - See all my reviews

The Scientification of Love is a book that looks at the very core of our love and our relationships. Dr. Odent research looks at love and birth as a continuum of our sexual life. He explores the role of oxytocin - " the love hormone" in labor, birth and breastfeeding, as well as, oxytocin's role in the maternal-infant attachment process that forms the basis for all our relationships in life. I started to read this book early one morning and couldn't put it down. It's thought provoking ideas have stayed with me since. When we can incorporate Dr. Odent's research and ideas we will bring about a change that will include; undisturbed birthing, bonding and a peaceful society.

I highly recommend this book for anyone planning or expecting a child as well as childbirth educators, doulas, midwives and physicians. Anyone that would like to help create peaceful birthing and thus a peaceful society will enjoy Dr. Odent's work.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My Favorite Birth Book, December 19, 2008

By	Callie Foulk - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The ever profound and fascinating Dr. Michel Odent explains love, on a physiological level. In The Scientification of Love, he undertook the Herculean task of piecing together relevant findings from a broad range of scientific disciplines. He then provided a comprehensive look at the maternal/infant bond and its implications for survival of the human race. The book is small, but the implications are huge!

In order to fully understand how the capacity to love develops (or doesn't, as the case may be) it helps to understand the power of hormones and how they shape behavior. How love is expressed--whether maternally, sexually, as companionship and kindness, as the feeling of blissful one-ness ("oceanic love") that accompanies mystical experience (including uninhibited birth experiences), etc.-- can be understood by studying the balance of oxytocin, "the love hormone", in relation to complementary and mitigating hormones of the adrenaline-noradrenaline family. Fear not--the technical information in this book is well-written and accessible for the lay reader.

If you're searching for a reason to birth outside the medical model, Dr. Odent provides the simplest and most compelling reason of all: stimulating a laboring mother's neo-cortex (new brain, located in the temporal lobe) inhibits the release of oxytocin and causes the mother to lose access to her instincts. It also negatively affects bonding. This is why all mammals have strategies for birthing in privacy. The more we interfere, the more complicated birth becomes, and the more we necessitate interference (the snowball effect). Conversely, privacy and autonomy allow the mother to connect with the instinctive, primal brain, so that she is able to safely and appropriately respond to her body and her baby.

Perhaps the most poignant information Dr. Odent presents is the explanation for violent, disruptive birth practices. If you've ever looked in dismay at the state of modern obstetric care and wondered "How did we get here?" Dr. Odent provides a disturbing answer. There is an evolutionary advantage to cultivating aggression and impairing the capacity to love. The advancement of every successful (dominant) civilization has corresponded with the ability to conquer nature and other human groups. Therefore, stifling love, compassion, and the ability to empathize has been an effective means of advancement. Until now. Humanity's continued success depends on peaceful co-existence, non-violent resolution of conflicts, compassionate interest in future generations, and recognition of the interdependence of the Earth and ourselves. Dr. Odent's far-reaching work strikes at the heart of the matter: with mothers and babies and the imperative to reclaim birth as a natural rite of passage. He wisely points the way toward a gentler beginning.