|
My theory is that human medicine evolved while human institutions did not. The average life span used to be just enough to raise your offspring to self-sufficiency before you died. It was of benefit to society, and to the family, to have the parenting relationship last till the kids were on their own, which happened to coincide with your whole life.
As life expectancy increased, "till death do you part" got to be a lot longer. Our institutions didn't change in the same way our biological and environmental conditions did. Keep in mind that until the last couple of centuries, "love" had nothing to do with "marriage." It was not a romantic relationship, it was an economic relationship. "Marriage" was expected to last till death do you part. Nobody said anything about love. Once marriage became a romantic institution as well, you're supposed to not just stay married till you die, but stay in love till you die. Pretty unrealistic. I think you can stay in love forever, but given how most people change over their lives, it seems unlikely just from a statistical point of view that this would be possible for most people.
__________________
"If ten million people believe a foolish thing, it is still a foolish thing."
- Anatole France
|