She said that marriage wasn’t the problem, it was the social ecosystem around it. “For example, dances. They once fulfilled an important function in society—court dances, barn dances, ballroom dances—they allowed people to legally touch someone who wasn’t their husband or wife.” “That’s . . . healthy?” “Yes, biologically it’s important to feel diff

of cruelty and paperwork to undo that just because you didn’t know you wouldn’t want it once you had it.” “Only drunk people talk about Maslow’s hierarchy of needs,” Seth said. I ignored him. This was who Seth was going to marry. But

And now that I had vowed to hang out with this man until I died, I also thought a lot about dying. It seemed I had not only married him but also married my eventual death. Before the vows, I might have lived alone, but forever; now I would definitely not be alone and I would definitely die. I had agreed to die, in front of all my family and friends