How important is Chemistry in finding future husband?

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I’d say the goal is a state of dynamic equilibrium, and yet you want slow crystallization in order to exclude impurities that can get trapped in your final product if you cool the mother liquor too quickly.

On the other hand, I’m a chemistry major married to a chemistry major. We’re a little “different.”
Your mileage may vary. 😉
And people say that those science-y folks can’t be poetic! 😛
 
That is me and my husband as well. We were high school sweethearts who became chem lab partners at university.
Lab partners? It’s not quite building a house, but that’s a pretty good test! 👍
 
Tell that to the millions of happily married people who still find their spouse exciting and interesting.
To think that people settle in to “meh” really is presenting marriage in a pretty unfavorable light. That’s an unfounded assumption.
Chemistry certainly CAN last for the duration of a marriage, and quite often does.
I have! I had to do this one time as the basis of a psychology final project. The happily married people I spoke with said if “chemistry” was what sustained them, they would have left their spouse long ago, when the “chemistry” went. All told me “chemistry” was the antithesis of deep and abiding love based on shared commitments and values.
 
I guess it depends what you mean by “chemistry.”

When I say “chemistry,” I basically mean compatibility. I don’t see how the heck any married couple can manage without compatibility. It’s the sine qua non.
I have! I had to do this one time as the basis of a psychology final project. The happily married people I spoke with said if “chemistry” was what sustained them, they would have left their spouse long ago, when the “chemistry” went. All told me “chemistry” was the antithesis of deep and abiding love based on shared commitments and values.
 
I guess it depends what you mean by “chemistry.”

When I say “chemistry,” I basically mean compatibility. I don’t see how the heck any married couple can manage without compatibility. It’s the sine qua non.
I mean the rush of “falling in love” emotion/attraction. I agree that compatibility is important and needed.
 
I mean the rush of “falling in love” emotion/attraction. I agree that compatibility is important and needed.
But if you arn’t in love with them,no emotion,no attraction but they have good values,caring,faithful etc then isn’t this just same as friendship?
 
But if you arn’t in love with them,no emotion,no attraction but they have good values,caring,faithful etc then isn’t this just same as friendship?
“In love” and “loving” are two different things to me. “In love” is the immature rush of emotion one feels at the beginning of a relationship; love is the deep, abiding caring that can last a lifetime. And, most happily married couples will say their spouse is their best friend. There is a lot of love in real friendship and a lot of friendship is real love.

A very wise woman told me one time, “Don’t marry anyone unless you think so highly of him that you can say, ‘This person can speak for/represent me.’”
 
“In love” and “loving” are two different things to me. “In love” is the immature rush of emotion one feels at the beginning of a relationship; love is the deep, abiding caring that can last a lifetime. And, most happily married couples will say their spouse is their best friend. There is a lot of love in real friendship and a lot of friendship is real love.

A very wise woman told me one time, "Don’t marry anyone unless you think so highly of him that you can say, ‘This person can speak for/represent me.’"
Sounds like power of attorney. :rolleyes:
Seriously, one can be “in love” for their entire lives. Many are, are very happily married.
It’s not immature at all, it’s wonderful.
 
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pianistclare:
Sounds like power of attorney. :rolleyes:
Seriously, one can be “in love” for their entire lives. Many are, are very happily married.
It’s not immature at all, it’s wonderful.

But normally not to the point of idolizing and idealizing their spouse, which is common in early love.

Maybe there are actually three threads in romantic love:
  1. infatuation (what Lily Bernans has described as chemistry)
  2. friendship (which is important in compatibility)
and a third element that hasn’t been talked about
  1. sexual attraction (which I believe pianistclare may be talking about and is also important in compatibility)
#3 helps to drive #1, and with any luck, #3 can stick around for a long, long time. I think it is a mistake to play down #3, mistaking it for “just” #1.
 
But normally not to the point of idolizing and idealizing their spouse, which is common in early love.

Maybe there are actually three threads in romantic love:
  1. infatuation (what Lily Bernans has described as chemistry)
  2. friendship (which is important in compatibility)
and a third element that hasn’t been talked about
  1. sexual attraction (which I believe pianistclare may be talking about and is also important in compatibility)
#3 helps to drive #1, and with any luck, #3 can stick around for a long, long time. I think it is a mistake to play down #3, mistaking it for “just” #1.
For me,chemistry is different then infatuation.
I don’t like infatuation because it is usually based on an “unhealthy” admiration of something the other person is felt to possess (eg: usually, but not always, beauty).
On other hand,chemistry is more spontaneous-it can just happen without thought and can include sexual chemistry.
 
For me,chemistry is different then infatuation.
I don’t like infatuation because it is usually based on an “unhealthy” admiration of something the other person is felt to possess (eg: usually, but not always, beauty).
On other hand,chemistry is more spontaneous-it can just happen without thought and can include sexual chemistry.
If I had to define emotional chemistry, I’d say it is a mutually effortless or an unbidden attraction. You realize this is someone you do not have to try to like, a person you naturally feel you want to please, a person whose pleasure is your pleasure, a person whose faults you naturally want to overlook because their attractive qualities are so outstanding, and someone who feels the same about you. You just feel like you “click.” It is not necessarily an infatuation. Some couples find the chemistry they felt at the beginning was based on a very real mutual compatibility, a sense of mutual admiration that only grew as they got to know each other better, and a dependable set of shared values.

The danger in having emotional chemistry with someone is in how much we can want to overlook problems that we should not be willing to overlook. Chemistry does not give someone character. Someone can go miles to please us when it is pleasing to them, but not have the character to remain loyal when it is not enjoyable to support us.

Another danger is that manipulators are champions at pretending emotional chemistry as soon as they learn how prone we are to manipulation by someone who charms us. Instead of being pleased to please us, however, a manipulator will seek to please us as a means to selfish ends. The pleasure of what feels like emotional chemistry can make us blind to the signs that we are dealing with a counterfeit or shallow emotional connection that will fail when the sweetness isn’t there to support it.
 
Sounds like power of attorney. :rolleyes:
Seriously, one can be “in love” for their entire lives. Many are, are very happily married.
It’s not immature at all, it’s wonderful.

I think that this whole discussion can be rife for misunderstanding, but having seen couples like this myself, together for years but still with stars in their eyes, I agree that it’s not a given that the marriage relationship inevitably cools into a “friends with benefits” type relationship, though I’ve seen couples like that too.

I agree that it’s not inevitable that the “in love” feeling fades away. I can think of one couple that at first came across to me as an “old bickering married couple”, but as I got to know them better, I realized that if I were to read a transcript of some of their quotes about each other, you might mistake them for young teenagers, trying to cover up their true feelings about a crush by mercilessly teasing them. It was an interesting dynamic, and it probably wouldn’t work for everyone, but it seemed to work for them.
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Xantippe:
Maybe there are actually three threads in romantic love:
  1. infatuation (what Lily Bernans has described as chemistry)
  2. friendship (which is important in compatibility)
and a third element that hasn’t been talked about
  1. sexual attraction (which I believe pianistclare may be talking about and is also important in compatibility)
#3 helps to drive #1, and with any luck, #3 can stick around for a long, long time. I think it is a mistake to play down #3, mistaking it for “just” #1.
Sure, but Friendship + Sexual Attraction = Friends With Benefits, to me. I think there is more to a lasting marriage than that.
 
I think “chemistry” is a rather ambiguous term. We might all be defining it in different ways, so all be right. Also, what is necessary for one couple, might not be for another since all couples are unique, whether friends or married couples.
 
I agree that it’s not inevitable that the “in love” feeling fades away. I can think of one couple that at first came across to me as an “old bickering married couple”, but as I got to know them better, I realized that if I were to read a transcript of some of their quotes about each other, you might mistake them for young teenagers, trying to cover up their true feelings about a crush by mercilessly teasing them. It was an interesting dynamic, and it probably wouldn’t work for everyone, but it seemed to work for them.
One set of my grandparents is like that. It is, in the words of the young folk, " totes adorbs."

It’s funny because even I know they’ve been using the same lines for decades. But it seems “new” somehow still. It’s interesting. They’ve been married 60 years.
 
Sure, but Friendship + Sexual Attraction = Friends With Benefits, to me. I think there is more to a lasting marriage than that.
Yes, that would be love. Friends with benefits doesn’t seem to have anything to do with love.

As has been mentioned–I’m guessing that we are all defining “chemistry” differently. I can think of one girl from college–there was definitely–what I would call chemistry there but had a serious relationship developed–I just can’t see how it could have had any long-term potential–we could have had some “fun” some “good times” but I just don’t see how it could have developed into the deep love and friendship that I found with my wife. I guess in chemistry there are various kinds of reactions (you chemists out there feel free to correct me if I am wrong) some are very quick while others take a long time – kind of like the difference between a meteor and a sun. So maybe we’re looking for the right kind of chemistry–for that slow burning love that lasts a life time and not that quick brightly burning chemistry that fades. We’re looking for the sun not the meteor. And we should do our best not to mistake the later for the former. We should all remember that the initial chemistry, the initial attractions that we feel with someone can fade as we get to know them, and an attraction and chemistry can develop with someone as we get to know them–we often seem to not realize this.

The peace of Christ,
Mark
 
I think that this whole discussion can be rife for misunderstanding, but having seen couples like this myself, together for years but still with stars in their eyes, I agree that it’s not a given that the marriage relationship inevitably cools into a “friends with benefits” type relationship, though I’ve seen couples like that too.

I agree that it’s not inevitable that the “in love” feeling fades away. I can think of one couple that at first came across to me as an “old bickering married couple”, but as I got to know them better, I realized that if I were to read a transcript of some of their quotes about each other, you might mistake them for young teenagers, trying to cover up their true feelings about a crush by mercilessly teasing them. It was an interesting dynamic, and it probably wouldn’t work for everyone, but it seemed to work for them.

Sure, but Friendship + Sexual Attraction = Friends With Benefits, to me. I think there is more to a lasting marriage than that.
I think the question being debated is whether the “in love” feeling it is necessary or even possible, not whether it is sufficient.

People sometimes wish it were sufficient, but are forced to admit it is not.
“If wishes were horses, every beggar could ride.”

I’ve always understood Friends with Benefits (so-called)
= Friendship + Sexual Attraction (or enough) - Commitment - “In Love”
(which in the long run even feels as pathetic as it looks)
 
I’ve always understood Friends with Benefits (so-called)
= Friendship + Sexual Attraction (or enough) - Commitment - “In Love”
(which in the long run even feels as pathetic as it looks)
I think your math is correct.

The “friendship” part of friends with benefits is also optional.
 
So what if you meet man,same values,faithful,good character but no emotional attraction?
It cannot work, true(?) , because marriage must have emotion not be “business deal” finding man that “meets all the checkboxes” seems too practical method to make a marriage that last a lifetime.
 
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