Nevertheless, some people believe there can be a mystical experience of unity that accompanies the mere sight of the beloved for the first time. Perhaps there is a sense of déjà vu triggered by having known this person in a prior lifetime. Perhaps at first sight your “other half” pulls you toward him like the opposite poles of a magnet.
–Brazilian Model Ildi Silva
Thus, Plato held the view that, when our souls descended from heaven to earth, they were divided, so that meeting your soul mate for “the first time” in this lifetime was a sort of reunion. Notice, however, that such metaphysical explanations of love at first sight also include some prior direct experience with the person in question. So, even in accepting such explanations, we must concede that love at first sight is not really love at first sight. There is familiarity of sorts; we do not simply see others and then, automatically, love them. There is what Bertrand Russell called, “knowledge by acquaintance.” We are directly acquainted with others in certain ways before we come to love them.
–Model Lauren Wood
Such acquaintance can be cognitive (what she says to you, and what emotions and attitudes she expresses); auditory (her tone of voice); kinesthetic (the way she moves her body); olfactory (her scent); tactile (how she feels such as in an embrace); and even gustatory (as in the “taste” of the first kiss). This does not mean that all such types of acquaintance are requisite to “love at first sight”; however, this knowledge cannot meaningfully be restricted to the visual perception alone.
–Model Dierra Davis
So love at first sight may turn out to be more, much more, than what at first meets the eye! Thus, we also invariably rate the elements of our acquaintance with the potential beloved. Does he have a good sense of humor (according to you)? Is he articulate? Does the tone of his voice resonate well with you? Are her morals, as expressed, consistent with your own (for example, she says she’s against factory farming and so are you)? What messages is she conveying to you through her body and are you comfortable with them? What is she saying to you with her eyes? Here, the evaluation of such acquaintance appears to take place largely at a visceral or “gut” level. One does not carefully analyze and construct rational arguments to defend one’s ratings. One at first reacts. Such is what gives legs to the metaphor of “love is blind.”
–Brazilian Model Victoria Pereira
Of course, sexual attraction for the other is part of “the chemistry” and adds its flavor to the overall gestalt, but it is not the only ingredient in love at first sight. This love potion appears to be quite complex, a concoction of acquaintances of sundry sensible varieties and their visceral ratings, including cognitive ingredients. All of these informational ingredients are “mixed” (mentally processed) into a whole, which is greater than (distinct from) the sum of its parts.