..I am back.
But this time with a new strategy. Since I am more of a sprinter than a marathoner (literally and figuratively. Sidenote: I once ran 100 m in 12ish seconds. So there), I am going to revamp the content of this blog to reflect just that. No more delayed long posts but regular short posts..on anything that interests me - frivolous to serious, creepy to contemplative, everything.
So here I start with one of my favorite topics to talk about - marriage (although I am very much comfortable being on the other side).. I had written a post on the "whys" of marriage sometime back. I must admit, it was very adademic. Deep inside, I still wasnt convinced why marriage as an institution hasnt failed. People might be delaying marriage for several reasons but a life without marriage is still not common regardless of the geographical location. So after much thought, this is the underlying reasoning I have come up with: A human being's life is interesting and fun only when there is an element of "something to look forward to" associated with it on a regular basis. Else s/he gets bored. In youth, there are lots of things to look forward to other than marriage.. like acads, career, hobbies/passion, adventures etc. With age, this area of "looking forward to"ness starts shrinking and that subtle need for interestingness is filled up by marriage. So people start "looking forward" to life with someone, then with kids, then their life, then their kids and so on. It keeps them ticking. Subconsciously. Every phase and subphase associated with marriage has an element of "looking forward to"ness that makes life spicy. Hence, the longevity of marriage as an institution.
The 'sprinting' will continue soon.
But this time with a new strategy. Since I am more of a sprinter than a marathoner (literally and figuratively. Sidenote: I once ran 100 m in 12ish seconds. So there), I am going to revamp the content of this blog to reflect just that. No more delayed long posts but regular short posts..on anything that interests me - frivolous to serious, creepy to contemplative, everything.
So here I start with one of my favorite topics to talk about - marriage (although I am very much comfortable being on the other side).. I had written a post on the "whys" of marriage sometime back. I must admit, it was very adademic. Deep inside, I still wasnt convinced why marriage as an institution hasnt failed. People might be delaying marriage for several reasons but a life without marriage is still not common regardless of the geographical location. So after much thought, this is the underlying reasoning I have come up with: A human being's life is interesting and fun only when there is an element of "something to look forward to" associated with it on a regular basis. Else s/he gets bored. In youth, there are lots of things to look forward to other than marriage.. like acads, career, hobbies/passion, adventures etc. With age, this area of "looking forward to"ness starts shrinking and that subtle need for interestingness is filled up by marriage. So people start "looking forward" to life with someone, then with kids, then their life, then their kids and so on. It keeps them ticking. Subconsciously. Every phase and subphase associated with marriage has an element of "looking forward to"ness that makes life spicy. Hence, the longevity of marriage as an institution.
The 'sprinting' will continue soon.
2 comments:
Your thesis would explain why people get married in the West and in socities/ classes where economic benefits of marriage don't really play a big part in decision making. Among middle-class and lower communities in India, marriage is mostly old age insurance/ social security. You have a wife/ husband and eventually kids who will provide for you when you can no longer do so yourself. That in itself is reason enough to marry and stay married.
Ditto. I was going to add the exact same 'caveat'. Thanks for pointing out.
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