Thursday, October 11, 2007

Marriage: Is It Worth It?

I'm not asking if specific people should get married, but if marriage in general is worth it. Someone close to me thinks that people would be happier if they never got married, never had to deal with reconciling their own habits and viewpoints with those of someone else.

In general, I can see where he's coming from. The people who are closest to you can be the ones that get under your skin the most. And by marrying someone, you become very, very close to another human being with flaws.

But at the same time, most of us do want companionship. Yes, friends and family are nice. They can be very nice. But they don't fill a specific void that many of us have.

And then there's the whole issue of if no one is marrying (while keeping their hands to themselves), then we'll all die off! Obviously this outcome is not truly possible. But it would be the result if everyone followed this advice.

12 comments:

Beautifully Profound said...

After I got married the first time. I thought, who in the heck would do that to themselves. Then after I was bitter for a long time. I met Mik and he totally changed his mind. I bet if your friend met the girl of his dreams he would change his mind about marriage.

And for the record I cannot WAIT to get married. It's going to be the best day of our lives.

Melody said...

Pretty narcissistic reasons for not getting married.

Yes, people are obnoxious - but when you think about the people you love it isn't as if you'd trade them away just so you didn't have to deal with the annoying things they do.

Jonathan Erdman said...

Emily: And then there's the whole issue of if no one is marrying (while keeping their hands to themselves), then we'll all die off! Obviously this outcome is not truly possible. But it would be the result if everyone followed this advice.

What would be wrong with everyone dying off? In that case we would effectively end all evil and suffering in the world.

Jonathan Erdman said...

A few weeks back I actually began to think about writing a short satirical story about what would happen if the entire human populace decided to eradicate evil and suffering by not procreating and effectively ending the human race!

What do you think? Is it worth giving a try???

Melody said...

What would be wrong with everyone dying off? In that case we would effectively end all evil and suffering in the world.

Think about how much it would suck to be that last person!

Emily said...

The reason I said it wouldn't truly be possible, was that Jesus is coming back at some point. And why would he come back if all that was left were animals and vegetation?

Jon, I say go for the short story. Sounds interesting. Be sure and post it when you're done.

Emily said...

Did a movie come out within the last year or so with a similar idea?

Jonathan Erdman said...

Are you thinking of that movie about the Human Project, where no one can conceive children anymore and society is effectively going to heck?


"What would be wrong with everyone dying off? In that case we would effectively end all evil and suffering in the world.

Think about how much it would suck to be that last person!"

It would be like the guy from the old Twilight Zone. Remember the dude who survived the annihilation of the world and then was so glad that he finally had time to read all the books he wanted: "Now I've got all the time in the world!" Then the poor man stepped on his glasses....I think I cried the first time I saw that episode....

Emily said...

I'm sorry, I have not seen much of The Twilight Zone. I do remember watching Dr. Who as a child, though. Just some crazy guy and a time/place traveling phone booth...?

Melody said...

I never saw that twilight zone.

My parents love Dr. Who - I always thought it was real weird.

Emily said...

Since this post, I found myself around the mentioned person w/ non-marriage ideas. Within little time, the conversation turned to... guess what? And on top of it, he said that, actually, having kids might not be a good thing... with the world as it is and all...

john doyle said...

Marriage is kind of a fading institution in Europe. In Sweden and Denmark more than half the kids are born out of wedlock. Meanwhile the US has the highest rate of divorce in the world. Apparently the "marriage lite" option in Europe still leads to a lot of breakups, though.