My personal view is...romantics may have theorized from that early attraction humans have for one another, that people must be ‘soul mated!’ But, a BIG portion of those people stay together but seem to loose that ‘soul mate’ feeling for each other and others split up. They seem to completely loose whatever attraction they had. But, I believe that when partners work well together, it makes for a happy life and may only appear to be like soul mates (as in some out of this world ordained). Maybe it has more to do with ‘bonding’ than soul mates. Bonding would allow the parties to value the other person as themselves! Thus you would have high regard for one another.

"Soulmate" is a fantasy pushed by Disney, advertising, rom-coms and stupid romance books.

Suddenly you're struck by romantic lightning, running through a flowery field with butterflies and birds fluttering about, into the arms of ....CUT.

What's that tingling feeling? Ticks.

I don't think of soulmates in a religious sense, but someone who you have a very strong mutual connection with and affection for. I don't think soulmates are strictly romantic, either; some of my closest friends are soulmates to me. That also being said, I don't think there's one soulmate for each person, but many we'll encounter in our lifetime.

IMHO opinion the concept of "soulmates" is found everywhere in nature.. penguins as an example.. no need of the supernatural

You're asking a bunch of people who don't believe in the soul if soulmates exist.

I jest, and I understand what you're saying.

No. Soulmates don't exist. It is bullshit. You have a very small chance of finding someone compatible enough to last either of your lifetimes. You've a slightly less small chance of finding someone that will stay with you for more than 10 years.

Committed, long-term relationships are rare. And they take a lot of work, from both parties, and a lot of luck.

They don't just happen. They aren't destined.

The thought that there's only one person out there that you need to find out of a sea of 7.5 billion is a bit ridiculous, as that makes needles and haystacks look like child's play. What makes someone your match is the mutual commitment and caring that are built between you and someone that is sufficiently compatible to begin with. If there's some real compatibility there, and both are committed to similar goals with respect to each other, something great and unique is going to get built.

I just look at it as someone with whom you have great chemistry. My brother is a soulmate. We have played music professionally for over 35 years. My best friend since l was 14 is a soul mate. There have been a couple of relationships in my life that had that feel about them.

I think of a soulmate as being the person that you need at that time of your life. If you had met them earlier (for example, before your divorce), you would have passed them by. Now that you have a specific need, they answer it. When I met my Bob, who I loved dearly, he was exactly what I needed,,,kind and honest. I wasn't sure it would last forever when we married, but for 17 years (until he died) we had a great relationship. My point is that I don't think a soulmate equates with any divinity.

Humans are designed by evolution to love, it is obnoxiously easy and common for us to find others to love. What is kind of tragic is that we are so love obsessed that we don't recognize how much it is in our lives and around us, we take it for granted and obsess over any place we see an absence until we think love is rare. Now, when it comes to soulmates, there are a couple of problems. Because we are designed to love, we can find 10s of thousands of fellow humans that we are compatible with and live wonderful lives with, but we stop looking once we hit on one of them and that can cause us to think it is somewhat magical since we are unaware of all the other perfectly rich lives with other compatible suitors. I mean, the chances that out of the 7 billion people on the planet your soulmate happens to live in your town, is the sex of your preference, attractive, somewhat close in age, you 2 meet, and the person loves you in return, seems phenomenal, but why are you thinking there is only one person in the world that you are compatible with in the first place? That seems absurd and evolutionarily nonsensical.

Nope

I think it's easy to get caught up in terms and lose scope of the concept. For me, the term 'soul' is just consciousness - what ever that is. It's kinda like Christmas, I celebrate the holiday, even if the name 'christ' means nothing to me.

I have only been with two women in my entire life that I would call "soul mates"... Aside from my marriage, 12 years in total, my other relationships last two to three years on average, so I have been around enough women to know what I don't want - the rare instances where everything was right, when it feels like the stars have aligned and the world is at the feet of you and your mate; when you can look in each other's eyes and don't need to speak to know what each other is thinking; every moment together is like nothing else matters, something way beyond love that you cannot identify - that, in a nutshell is what I call a soul mate, and it's only happened for me twice (and no, my wife wasn't one of them).

I understand what you are saying about holding on to romanticism, I do the same whether it makes sense or not. Love at any level kind of doesn't make a lot of sense, as humans, I think most of us need it - rationality be damned, lol

"Soulmate" would have to be defined. Does that mean your perfect match? I think it is unlikely that everyone has a "perfect" match. There likely is someone in the world that is your optimal match, but the likelihood that you will ever meet that person is very very low. Stop expecting to find a perfect match and be OK with someone that is close enough that you can build a life with.

Some species pair for life, i.e. Swans, pelicans. Does that mean they are soul mates? Have they decided upon that partner over another or just the first partner that comes along? I don't know but I am sure studies have been undertaken. If they choose each other over others I would say yes, in that species, so maybe yes in humans. If, however, that is so, a certain modicum of pre-destination could be acknowledged. From a Darwinian perspective it seems unlikely, but we do seem pre-disposed to a certain type, not just anyone. So the choices seem to be Darwin or Disney!

I think they do...

I think they're rarer than winning the lottery jackpot, but they do.

Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward come to mind.

There is a beautiful Spanish song written by a Cuban poet, that summarize the soulmate concept (when it happens) amazingly simple. Basically points out the fact of the incredible odds to find one when each other could have been far away not only distance wise, but time as well.

I love the fantasy of having a soul mate. I realise I make consecions and compromise to make it feel that way. But then again I’m sure she does too. What really matters is that we do and it’s enjoyable. We make it work it just doesn’t happen by its self but we are willing and that’s the part that creates a soul mate, in my opinion.

Probably but hard to find. That's like winning the lottery nowadays.

You need a soul first which is definitely based on religion so yeah more fairy stories

They do, after 10 to 15 years (it may take more) of love, patience, understanding, forgiveness, sharing....

I don’t much favor the idea of us “having” souls. If I have a soul, who is it that is doing the having? To me it makes more sense to think that our true selves exist in a higher realm than the physical universe that we see before us. I’m not talking about anything supernatural, just the part of reality that we can’t understand with our space/time/matter model.

I lean toward the idea that consciousness is primary, and that the sense of self a a separate individual is an illusion. In that respect we might be considered a single, unified entity. We would all be soulmates together.

No

Bingo. You got it.

There are no soulmates in the sense of a best destiny chosen for you by some version of a deity. There is no directed destiny and there is no soul.

There are just people who could potentially feel like soulmates. In fact I'd suggest there are moments in most relationships (usually early on, sadly) where it feels like that. Or where it feels like you've beat tremendous odds. For example when I was getting to know my current wife, she had experienced a number of things in life that made my rather baroque and complicated past relatable to her, and of course, the inverse was conveniently true as well. That felt good. But that didn't make it some sort of "meant to be" thing, it made it an opportunity to seize.

Synchronicity