First of all, if you’re interested in this concept I’d recommend reading the work it comes from (if I remember correctly), Deleuze and Guattari’s “Capitalism and Schizophrenia” duology, especially the second volume “A Thousand Plateaus”.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Anti-Oedipus-Capitalism-Schizophrenia-Gilles-Deleuze/dp/0816612250/
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Thousand-Plateaus-Bloomsbury-Revelations/dp/1780935374/
They’re heavy works but, since it’s been a while since I personally looked into this stuff, they’ll give you a better understanding than I can. If you don’t want to read them (which is perfectly understandable) I’d recommend doing research specifically into the concept of “Bodies Without Organs” which this idea seems to be based around.
>How would you feel about someone who went around dosing people with a drug that made them fall in love with the next person they saw? If you would be repelled by that idea (as I think most people would be) then you probably value autonomy after all.
I would oppose this idea, not on the basis of “autonomy” but on the basis of it being inorganic. Rather than two people organically growing together you’re just arbitrarily forcing people together. There’s a major difference.
I will however point out that even in, for example, arranged marriages genuine and beneficial romantic love has developed. For example, the marriage of Emperor Charles V and Isabella of Portugal was an arranged one yet it later blossomed into a genuine romance.
>Also, I am pretty sure there are various psychedelic drugs that can achieve the kind of effect Deleuze is describing, and with considerably less baggage
Leaving aside the complex questions surrounding psychedelics, my issue would be that they are impersonal and, once again, inorganic. Rather than developing a genuine connection to another person you are using chemicals to simulate the effect. It’s not the same and I doubt that it’s anywhere near as beneficial.