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About "I wouldn't marry/be with you if you were the last man/woman alive/on Earth."


Mychemicalqpr

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Mychemicalqpr

I've always been confused by this phrase. It implies that it would be expected that you'd be more likely to fall in love with someone if they were the last man/woman on Earth. I mean, some people--not me--might be motivated to save their species, but that's not love. I don't see how someone being the last man/woman would make you like them any more, and in that hypothetical world, there would be no society to pressure you into pairing up. 

 

So would you be with someone you didn't like if they were the only option? 

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13 minutes ago, twilightstarr said:

I've always been confused by this phrase. It implies that it would be expected that you'd be more likely to fall in love with someone if they were the last man/woman on Earth. I mean, some people--not me--might be motivated to save their species, but that's not love. I don't see how someone being the last man/woman would make you like them any more, and in that hypothetical world, there would be no society to pressure you into pairing up. 

 

So would you be with someone you didn't like if they were the only option? 

 
 

It means because they are your only available option to date. So you are basically saying "I wouldn't even consider you an option if you were desperate". 

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Is it just me or have you not been around much lately?? Hi!

 

Yeah, it's never seemed like the strongest comeback ever. I'm sure there are better ones out there. But I suppose in our case you can say it very, very literally. ;p

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1 hour ago, twilightstarr said:

I mean, some people--not me--might be motivated to save their species, but that's not love.

Would I be with someone if they were my only option? No, but here's the more interesting point--I often hear that "I wouldn't marry you…" phrase thrown around with the heavy implication being that, yeah, you'd need to pair up to continue the human race. However, if there's only one man and one woman left, we're already going to go extinct. There's a minimum viable population for every species in order to maintain healthy generations ~100 years into the future, and for humans, it's 80 pairs, or 160 individuals. So, if it's just two people left, they may as well not even try to reproduce, because then they're dooming their children to a lonely, hopeless (and maybe even incestuous) death.

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I semi disagree with @Frodo above, arguing via the domesticated Syrian hamster 

1 hour ago, twilightstarr said:

It implies that it would be expected that you'd be more likely to fall in love with someone if they were the last man/woman on Earth.

Tough one. - There is love at 1st glimpse. - My bestie is admittedly an at 2nd glimpse gal (but the greatest of them all!) and when we look at all the straight guys in jail or out on sea abusing each other I can follow the thought that it isn't uncommon to lower one's demands and take whoever might be in reach as a partner.

 

IMHO "I wouldn't marry/be with you if you were the last man/woman alive/on Earth." is harsh and most likely not true. - I'd assume I'd socially interact with that person for sure and from there on things might develop in the "last on Earth" scenario.

 

As much of a loner as I am; even I am still somewhat social by nature.

 

 

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Mychemicalqpr
18 minutes ago, Busrider said:

Tough one. - There is love at 1st glimpse. - My bestie is admittedly an at 2nd glimpse gal (but the greatest of them all!) and when we look at all the straight guys in jail or out on sea abusing each other I can follow the thought that it isn't uncommon to lower one's demands and take whoever might be in reach as a partner.

I guess I just don't get the point. If you don't like the person, what do you have to gain out of trying to make a relationship with them anyway? Wouldn't it just be frustrating and not fulfilling? I'd certainly rather have no SO for my whole life than someone I don't like. I was curious whether or not others would feel the same way. 

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48 minutes ago, Busrider said:

arguing via the domesticated Syrian hamster 

This is really interesting! I think it's unlikely that would work for humans, though--two sisters and a brother might be able to produce reasonably healthy offspring, but a few generations down the line, inbreeding would catch up to them. And if they happened to be carriers of a genetic disease…even likelier that something would go wrong. Also, I love that an ad for hamsters called them "toy bears." SO CUTE.

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3 hours ago, Sherlocks said:

It means because they are your only available option to date. So you are basically saying "I wouldn't even consider you an option if you were desperate".

Correction: "I wouldn't even consider you an option if I were desperate."

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chair jockey

Someone who doesn't want a romantic or sexual partner wouldn't be desperate in the first place.

 

The insult originates with traditional social expectations on everyone to get married at the "correct" age and "start a family" at the correct age. In that context you settle for whatever you can get so that the right age doesn't pass you by and you find yourself "too old" to be marriage and family material. That's all it is.

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I think the phrase is to suggest that even if the speaker had no other options they still wouldn't marry the person.

The phrase doesn't hold much meaning to me, considering marriage doesn't interest me in the first place.

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I don't know anybody vacant whom I might like enough to try diving into a relationship with them. - OTOH:

  • Whom or what do I know at all?
  • What does not liking somebody really mean?
  1. What is it based upon?
  2. Which of these points are prejudice based?
  3. Which points are really invariable?
  4. Which of those issues would still matter without a surrounding social environment?

In other words: I weeded people out due to their (in theory variable):

  • Styling
  • Behavior towards me

or irrelevant without society:

  • Political views
  • Consumeristic priorities

I assume a previously disliked last female on earth would bump into me, drop into the gender role "social mortar" engage me in something bearable, like small talk over lunch and skillfully probe me about the issues I am having with my prejudices towards her and kind of work towards a compromise.

 

To be somewhat clearer: I used to dream of love that fits into a teardrop trailer. I feel kind of capable to cope with almost any wife, if we have the chance to sleep in different corners of the White House or similar.

 

I typed too slowly. @chair jockey nailed it.

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NerotheReaper

It basically is saying they would rather die/let the human race die than be with the person. It just an expression really, don't worry about it since it is a rhetorical expression really.

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19 hours ago, twilightstarr said:

I've always been confused by this phrase. It implies that it would be expected that you'd be more likely to fall in love with someone if they were the last man/woman on Earth. I mean, some people--not me--might be motivated to save their species, but that's not love. I don't see how someone being the last man/woman would make you like them any more, and in that hypothetical world, there would be no society to pressure you into pairing up. 

 

So would you be with someone you didn't like if they were the only option? 

I'd probably be more inclined to attempt to befriend the last man/woman. I guess if both people were romantic it would be more likely to happen those two got together than if, say, they each had 50 others to choose from. If either or both weren't romantic I don't think it would happen!

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19 hours ago, twilightstarr said:

I've always been confused by this phrase. It implies that it would be expected that you'd be more likely to fall in love with someone if they were the last man/woman on Earth. I mean, some people--not me--might be motivated to save their species, but that's not love. I don't see how someone being the last man/woman would make you like them any more, and in that hypothetical world, there would be no society to pressure you into pairing up. 

 

So would you be with someone you didn't like if they were the only option? 

No, being single is superior to being coupled due to lack of options. I can't have kids so if I was the last of my gender it's all over.

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Grumpy Alien

The last giraffe to date on Noah's ark. Buahaha!!! -- SDA, Seventh Day Adventist, funny meme, Christian humor, bible story comic:

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If you want to come across as a complete psycho, you could quote Api's (Peter Smith's role) infamous reply from the underrated 1985 film "The Quiet Earth"...

 

"I'm working on it." :twisted:

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