Professor Brand, played by Anne Hathaway in the sci-fi movie Interstellar, passionately urges Cooper, the pilot of the spaceship, played by Matthew McConaughey, to land on a particular planet because Edmund, the man she loves, was hibernating on that planet.
The two protagonists are hurtling in space through a wormhole to find a planet suitable for human habitation.
Brand argues to a stupefied Cooper that love is a very strong emotion, and like gravity, it can be felt strongly. But why is love so important?
Scientific studies have shown that being in love causes our body to release feel-good hormones and neuro-chemicals that trigger specific, positive reactions.
Levels of dopamine, adrenaline and norepinephrine increase when people are in love.
Together, these chemicals are responsible for all the magic that we feel when we are in love. That’s perhaps why we refer often to the ‘chemistry’ of love.
Unconditional love and compassion have many benefits. And they help in expansion of our consciousness from the ‘I, Me, Myself ’ obsession to the more expansive
‘We, Us and Ours’. If Brand sought to unite with her lover on another planet, Cooper too yearned to reunite with the daughter he ‘abandoned’ on earth.
We love our children, relatives and friends, and want to be with them, and that makes our lives more meaningful. So, any attempt to save the planet or humanity needs to begin with that premise.
