Oh you made a *wonderful* point. A glorious, fantastic and amazing point, brilliant in its insight and reality. Thank you. :)
In my house it's called "The Big Lie", but you've summed it up reasonably well.
The shorter version is that the big lie is the one we are told from childhood- that there is one and only one person out there for you, waiting somewhere. That all you have to do is find them(and of course, they're just waiting around for you, because you're the only person for *them*, too!) They will complete your life forever after, and you will always want that and only that person and they you, forever.
It's nonsense. At least it's nonsense for the overwhelming majority of people.
The reason the lie is so damned pervasive is because we can all point to someone who has that relationship. What no one is telling you(generic) is that the percentage of people who do is (just to make a comparison, not an actual statistic) about the same percentage of people who are left handed- about 9%. The other 91% are not really going to find it and be happy with what they get. A lot of people stay together not because of anything to do with happiness- it's simply other, more practical considerations and concerns. They agree to detente, as long as it's not outright misery, for the sake of children, money, pets and possessions(and outright social pressure- after all, *they* don't want to be the "failure".) The big lie also makes those 91% feel like failures as people- somehow damaged and broken and less worthy, because they're convinced that they're in the minority- after all, *everyone else* can do it, right? That's what we're taught.
It's crap. And people wonder why I loathe, utterly, romantic comedies and chick flicks.
The real tragedy is that out of that 91% a decent portion of them truly could be happy with each other if people could let go of the gripping drive for instant gratification that is so pervasive throughout our culture. If they could learn to stop, take a step back, and look from the other person's perspective, and more importantly, be able to compromise, let things lie, and be happy with the "good enough", then those 91% might find themselves a bit closer to that mythic "perfection". Of course, a portion of them really are just not right for each other, but that might also be traced to instant gratification in the earlier days of the relationships. The big secret of it all is that happy couple that we all know of have their share of problems, too. Possibly even bigger ones, but just better hidden. But, hell... Why bother trying to fix a problem when there is this magic, faceless box you can talk to with someone at the other end who "truly understands you"?
Hell, I could have been part of the 9%, but Fate doesn't always smile on love, so I am not. But I firmly believe that people loose sight of some very important things when it comes to relationships. Compromise, loyalty, empathy, trust, and certain concepts that might be hard to come to terms on, such as no one wins a gender war, don't shoot for perfection, happiness is not the end-all-be-all, it has to be constantly worked for, maintained, and re-upholstered, get the finances in order first before setting aside play money, and the biggest one- no matter which path you choose in life, at some point down that road it will turn out it was the wrong path to choose, no matter which path you take.
Being as how we are a race of individual herd animals, one has to wonder about those who choose to stand outside of the herd. Does that make a person evolutionarily superior, or a throw back? It probably doesn't matter, in the end.
As applied to our culture, not speaking about others...
Date: 2009-01-09 08:59 pm (UTC)In my house it's called "The Big Lie", but you've summed it up reasonably well.
The shorter version is that the big lie is the one we are told from childhood- that there is one and only one person out there for you, waiting somewhere. That all you have to do is find them(and of course, they're just waiting around for you, because you're the only person for *them*, too!) They will complete your life forever after, and you will always want that and only that person and they you, forever.
It's nonsense. At least it's nonsense for the overwhelming majority of people.
The reason the lie is so damned pervasive is because we can all point to someone who has that relationship. What no one is telling you(generic) is that the percentage of people who do is (just to make a comparison, not an actual statistic) about the same percentage of people who are left handed- about 9%. The other 91% are not really going to find it and be happy with what they get. A lot of people stay together not because of anything to do with happiness- it's simply other, more practical considerations and concerns. They agree to detente, as long as it's not outright misery, for the sake of children, money, pets and possessions(and outright social pressure- after all, *they* don't want to be the "failure".) The big lie also makes those 91% feel like failures as people- somehow damaged and broken and less worthy, because they're convinced that they're in the minority- after all, *everyone else* can do it, right? That's what we're taught.
It's crap. And people wonder why I loathe, utterly, romantic comedies and chick flicks.
Re: As applied to our culture, not speaking about others...
Date: 2009-01-10 08:39 am (UTC)But, hell... Why bother trying to fix a problem when there is this magic, faceless box you can talk to with someone at the other end who "truly understands you"?
Bah. Foolishness.
Re: As applied to our culture, not speaking about others...
Date: 2009-01-10 09:40 am (UTC)Re: As applied to our culture, not speaking about others...
Date: 2009-01-10 10:34 am (UTC)Compromise, loyalty, empathy, trust, and certain concepts that might be hard to come to terms on, such as no one wins a gender war, don't shoot for perfection, happiness is not the end-all-be-all, it has to be constantly worked for, maintained, and re-upholstered, get the finances in order first before setting aside play money, and the biggest one- no matter which path you choose in life, at some point down that road it will turn out it was the wrong path to choose, no matter which path you take.
Re: As applied to our culture, not speaking about others...
Date: 2009-01-10 11:07 am (UTC)Re: As applied to our culture, not speaking about others...
Date: 2009-01-10 11:12 am (UTC)Does that make a person evolutionarily superior, or a throw back?
It probably doesn't matter, in the end.
Re: As applied to our culture, not speaking about others...
Date: 2009-01-10 11:19 am (UTC)most statistical outliers are.
Re: As applied to our culture, not speaking about others...
Date: 2009-01-10 06:37 pm (UTC)