"They are less socially capable and in worse physical condition. Given that they have access to the best education, food, resources and information at any time in history, it is pretty appalling."
This is appalling. So smart yet, so unhealthy. Look at the numbers of 18 year olds who can't make it through basic army training these days. I am not saying army is great, I am saying that an 18 year old should have some level of physical ability considering their access and means.
Increasingly, young men want to have nothing to do with sex and relationships for a host of reasons one of which is how they have seen their older relatives or friends get shafted in divorce court.
This often comes down to social ability also, not just the law. People with low level social skills don't tend to make wise relationship decisions nor handle relationships or breakups as the case may be well either.
THe technological revolution has made social connection a numbers game, that has nothing to do with ability to understand people or, build social relationships. The increasing divorce rate isn't about freedom in my opinion, it is about poor decision making at the outset.
I don't think relationships were any better in our parents' or grandparents' generation despite they did not have Facebook to ruin their social skills. They just couldn't divorce as easily even if they had spouses from hell because of the social stigma of divorce and their lack of economic means.
And have the social skills of the young really been ruined? I seriously doubt that. In some ways, I think, young people have better social skills than my generation. They're more tolerant of individual differences, drink less, and are less violent and criminal.
You think it's just because people marry the wrong people? And that's because they don't bother to get to know their prospective spouses before they tie the knot? I don't think so because cohabiting for years is very common before marriage.
Sexual relationships are a very special kind of social connection. That thing is and has always been much more acutely instict-driven than most of our other relationships. I think the divorce rate is simply a product of longer life expectancy, more freedom and wealth and the fact that we have never been a pure monogamous pair-bonding species. We're somewhere between a tournament and a pair-bonding species. We used to have cultural institutions in place that forced married couples to stay together no matter what but now those institutions have weakened to a great deal. Nature is rearing its head.
I don't think so because cohabiting for years is very common before marriage.
Perhaps they have commitment issues ;)
Just dropping in to say that you had a fascinating discussion :D