I think the strongest pro-Traditionalist argument is if those human connections were on expectation still more fulfilling, and they just happen to have a higher barrier to entry. I think that’s probably fair (after all, you can always just play games and have watch parties with children and friends, and it’s all the more fun!).
But even so, and even as I realise it, personally I still am married but childless and almost friendless. Why? A bunch of things, but mostly I would say a persistent lack of stability that has prevented me from establishing solid relationships and has made it hard to form new ones (the older you are, the harder it gets). It probably doesn’t help that I am fundamentally introverted—that even as I enjoy company, it also tires me out. I have to wonder whether these are traits on the rise. It’s one thing to rationally choose to be a loner and another to have your brain wired in such ways that the cost of reaching out is fundamentally higher. If such traits are hereditary, then they’re likely being selected against as we speak, but if they’re produced by certain education trends (e.g. helicopter parenting, or superstimulus induced ADHD) then they won’t just go away any soon. Also, that lack of stability has roots in the way our economy works too, the costs of specific goods like e.g. an extra bedroom in your house, etc.
I think the strongest pro-Traditionalist argument is if those human connections were on expectation still more fulfilling, and they just happen to have a higher barrier to entry. I think that’s probably fair (after all, you can always just play games and have watch parties with children and friends, and it’s all the more fun!).
But even so, and even as I realise it, personally I still am married but childless and almost friendless. Why? A bunch of things, but mostly I would say a persistent lack of stability that has prevented me from establishing solid relationships and has made it hard to form new ones (the older you are, the harder it gets). It probably doesn’t help that I am fundamentally introverted—that even as I enjoy company, it also tires me out. I have to wonder whether these are traits on the rise. It’s one thing to rationally choose to be a loner and another to have your brain wired in such ways that the cost of reaching out is fundamentally higher. If such traits are hereditary, then they’re likely being selected against as we speak, but if they’re produced by certain education trends (e.g. helicopter parenting, or superstimulus induced ADHD) then they won’t just go away any soon. Also, that lack of stability has roots in the way our economy works too, the costs of specific goods like e.g. an extra bedroom in your house, etc.