Thursday, January 18, 2007
Wow! It Must Be Stupid Season
James Lileks gives a pretty good dressing down to this vapid little piece of misrepotage in the Times talking about the fact that the majority of women are unmarried. The actual lede of the report is a little weak, given they start womanhood at 15, but I'll let that drop. The funnier part is their attempt to show this as an exciting, dynamic example of liberation and "changing social patterns".
They point to Besse Gardner, who says “We do not see living together as an end or even for the rest of our lives — it’s just fun right now,” and Shelley Fidler, who opines "The benefits were completely unforeseen for me, the free time, the amount of time I get to spend with friends, the time I have alone, which I value tremendously, the flexibility in terms of work, travel and cultural events.” The Times goes, of course.
Lileks rightfully notes that the Times would no doubt have a somewhat different take on the phenomenon if it were the men were divorcing for fun. But, I'll leave that out of this. What I find funnier is his comment of the Times reference to all this as "Things Smart People Know To Be So". I absolutely understand where he's coming from with this. Unfortunately, the "Smart People" aren't so smart when it comes to actual empirical research. You see:
* Married people are healthier and longer lived than their peers.
* Married people are happier than their peers.
* Married parents are likely to be saner than their peers.
The list goes on. It doesn't mean go out and marry the first person you can snag, but it does suggest that the Times might be guilty of relying a little too heavily on anecdotal evidence from people who are infatuated with the upsides of their decisions.
James Lileks gives a pretty good dressing down to this vapid little piece of misrepotage in the Times talking about the fact that the majority of women are unmarried. The actual lede of the report is a little weak, given they start womanhood at 15, but I'll let that drop. The funnier part is their attempt to show this as an exciting, dynamic example of liberation and "changing social patterns".
They point to Besse Gardner, who says “We do not see living together as an end or even for the rest of our lives — it’s just fun right now,” and Shelley Fidler, who opines "The benefits were completely unforeseen for me, the free time, the amount of time I get to spend with friends, the time I have alone, which I value tremendously, the flexibility in terms of work, travel and cultural events.” The Times goes, of course.
Lileks rightfully notes that the Times would no doubt have a somewhat different take on the phenomenon if it were the men were divorcing for fun. But, I'll leave that out of this. What I find funnier is his comment of the Times reference to all this as "Things Smart People Know To Be So". I absolutely understand where he's coming from with this. Unfortunately, the "Smart People" aren't so smart when it comes to actual empirical research. You see:
* Married people are healthier and longer lived than their peers.
* Married people are happier than their peers.
* Married parents are likely to be saner than their peers.
The list goes on. It doesn't mean go out and marry the first person you can snag, but it does suggest that the Times might be guilty of relying a little too heavily on anecdotal evidence from people who are infatuated with the upsides of their decisions.
