Unconditional Love: Is There Any Such Thing?
To truly understand unconditional love, we must first define love itself. In this context, I view love as an intense emotion, a deep-seated value we place on someone or something.
Next, it’s crucial to differentiate between the emotion (love) and the relationship that stems from it. For instance, while a parent’s relationship with their child may be conditional based on various factors, the emotion — the love they feel for that child — might remain unchanged.
Have you ever experienced a love so profound that regardless of how much someone changes — whether materially or behaviorally — your emotions remain steadfast? Even if the relationship dissolves, the cherished memory of who that person once was endures.
Of course, this isn’t a universal sentiment; love is subjective, and everyone experiences and expresses it differently. What I aim to convey is that there are individuals capable of loving unconditionally, even if the relationship itself has conditions.
Now, let’s delve into the concept of value. There’s objective utility, often linked to tangible benefits, and then there’s subjective emotion, which in this scenario pertains to ‘love’. Relationships, whether social or professional, are fundamentally transactional. But, by ‘transactional’, I don’t necessarily imply a formal contract or agreement. For example, the bond between a parent and their newborn is transactional: the parent voluntarily provides care based on a deep-seated motivation. Similarly, friendships can be transactional, built on mutual motivation and free from any sense of obligation.
Given this framework, I define unconditional love as an emotion that endures irrespective of the tangible exchanges of material utility. The love is unconditional because the exchange of utility isn’t a ‘Condition’ for its persistence. It transcends partnerships (like business deals or marriages), hierarchies (such as employer-employee or parent-child), and equates to pure friendships.
In conclusion, this isn’t about presenting a binary choice. One can simultaneously be a partner, a friend, or a mentor. In fact, friendships often flourish when there’s a mutual understanding and recognition of these subtle exchanges.
About Cecil (CJ) John
CJ is an Architect, and Computer Scientist, and the inventor of the world’s first blockchain-enabled digital workplace. Probably. In 2019, he caught the attention of Microsoft, who awarded his company with the highly coveted status of Microsoft Managed Partner. As a philanthropic endeavor, CJ is the founder of the John Charitable Trust, a 501(c)3 foundation.
CJ is the CEO of virtualdeveloper.com, LLC, an IT technology firm based in the USA that has worked with some of the largest organizations in the world, including the World Bank, IMF, US Federal Government, Deloitte Consulting, and Ernst & Young.
In 2022, CJ published the book Bitcoin, Cryptocurrency and Blockchain. CJ is a regular writer on the blogging platform Medium.
