As far as (romantic) love is concerned, the monogamist has (1x) romantic love to give and once all of (1x) is committed to one partner, there's nothing left for any additional partners. So (1x) is a fixed value.
Generally speaking, the polyamorist has (1x) amount of romantic love to give for one partner -- however, if a second partner enters the picture, (1x) can change to (2x). The amount of available love actually increases with the addition of (a) new partner/s.
This isn't a perfect description of the math because the brain itself is a finite object and as such has finite capacities for whatever it does. So (1x) can't quite change to (2x), maybe it can change to (1.9985x) -- close enough to (2x) to make the composite deal work reasonably well. As the polyamorist approaches his/her emotional saturation point, the amount (Cx) is additionally multiplied by becomes geometrically smaller. The polyamorist becomes increasingly constrained in the same way that one partner constrains a monogamist, it's just that the polyamorist has a multiplying-of-available-love function that increases the emotional saturation point beyond one partner.
This says nothing about the division of time and attention, which are always fixed amounts (1x) and can't be increased by adding new partners, even for a polyamorist. Add a second partner, and each partner is now getting (½x) time/attention compared to what they'd get if the polyamorist would stick to one partner. That's absolutely one of polyamory's drawbacks and unless the lemons can be morphed into a profitable amount of lemonade (such as the advantage of increased "me time"), both (or however many) partners are getting screwed in direct proportion to how many partners are cutting into the polyamorist's time pie.
Re (from MU1991):
Uhh -- you shift your primary focus to whatever you're doing at the moment. I am perhaps not understanding the question?
Generally speaking, the polyamorist has (1x) amount of romantic love to give for one partner -- however, if a second partner enters the picture, (1x) can change to (2x). The amount of available love actually increases with the addition of (a) new partner/s.
This isn't a perfect description of the math because the brain itself is a finite object and as such has finite capacities for whatever it does. So (1x) can't quite change to (2x), maybe it can change to (1.9985x) -- close enough to (2x) to make the composite deal work reasonably well. As the polyamorist approaches his/her emotional saturation point, the amount (Cx) is additionally multiplied by becomes geometrically smaller. The polyamorist becomes increasingly constrained in the same way that one partner constrains a monogamist, it's just that the polyamorist has a multiplying-of-available-love function that increases the emotional saturation point beyond one partner.
This says nothing about the division of time and attention, which are always fixed amounts (1x) and can't be increased by adding new partners, even for a polyamorist. Add a second partner, and each partner is now getting (½x) time/attention compared to what they'd get if the polyamorist would stick to one partner. That's absolutely one of polyamory's drawbacks and unless the lemons can be morphed into a profitable amount of lemonade (such as the advantage of increased "me time"), both (or however many) partners are getting screwed in direct proportion to how many partners are cutting into the polyamorist's time pie.
Re (from MU1991):
Uhh -- you shift your primary focus to whatever you're doing at the moment. I am perhaps not understanding the question?