The Viability of Monogamy

CNN published an article on the viability of monogamy, which was likely intended to inflame. There was a good point or two, for instance:

"[Americans] think if an affair happens, it's the end of the story, the fairy tale has been completely shattered, the person isn't the person we thought they were. The knee-jerk reaction is you have to get a divorce," Druckerman said.

"[In France,] there's less of a sense that the person who cheats is a terrible human being or that this is a marker of a person's whole character."

Perhaps that's the Puritanical character of the country showing up. And yet, even saying that it's bad, it still happens—the forbidden fruit must have the most attraction.

Well, I suppose the people who get the most bent out of shape when a partner cheats are the ones who have the lowest self-esteem. In that case, infidelity impacts the person's self-image. I would think that most people who have an affair do so not to hurt their partner. On one hand, if the expectation is total fidelity, then a breach is a violation of trust. On the other hand, one could view it as "no harm, no foul", or that one has to do things to make oneself happy. I would define the line between the pursuit of happiness and hedonism as the presence of patience and circumspect in the former, and wanton shortsightedness in the latter.

Maybe. I haven't hit that seven-year itch yet.