Differing Theories of Soulmates

A soulmate is someone with whom you feel a deep connection, regardless of whether that connection is a platonic friendship or a physically intimate relationship.  In today’s society, it is common to hear people speak of soulmates, whether they think they have found theirs or have given up hope of finding one.  There are differing theories, however, of what soulmates are and what that word means.

Classical View

According to Greek mythology, the gods originally created humans as beings with four legs, four arms, a head with two faces, two sets of genitalia, and one soul.  These beings were so perfect and so beautiful that the gods began to fear them.  Zeus decided to split those people in half, both to double immediately the amount of people making offerings and to prevent the humans from becoming too powerful.  This split left caused the halves of the soul to always search for the half that would complete them and make them whole again.

Spiritual View

Another theory of what soulmates are comes from the spiritual and religious concepts of karma and reincarnation.  According to theories of reincarnation, souls move from one life to the next on the journey to spiritual purity.  Each life serves to teach the person new knowledge and provide new experiences that carry forward into future lives.  In the case of relationships, the soul will seek out those with whom it had relationships in past lives.  Unlike the classical view, the spiritual view does not hold that soulmates are searching for each other so they can be complete.  Instead, the soulmates are drawn to each other in order to resolve karma issues from past lives, meaning that a relationship may not be a possibility.

Love Economics

The Love Economics definition of soulmates does not have the romanticism and poetic beauty of other definitions.  Instead, the Love Economics version is based on calculations and probabilities, and looks at relationships in terms of cost and benefits.  The person who gives you the highest benefit to cost ratio is your soulmate.  The mathematical equation for a soulmate is:

Soulmate Ratio = Total Love Benefit / Total Love Cost

What this formula means is that your soulmate is the one person on earth who will provide maximum benefits for the cost, making them the one person who will make you truly happy.  In other words, a person searching for a soulmate is looking for the person who provides the highest soulmate ratio.  That ratio increases over the length of time you know each other because of communication and shared experiences.  By this definition, soulmates are a result of mutual benefits, and recognizing them happens only after a long period of knowing each other.

Regardless of the variations in theories of what soulmates are, all seem to agree that some of an individual’s happiness depends on meeting their soulmate.  Soulmates are a source of completion, of deep emotional bonds, and relieving issues of karma.  In addition, the bond with a soulmate only grows deeper and stronger with time.  With so many benefits at stake, it is evident why so many people feel the need to search for their soulmates.