Prompt Cast
Evolution of Romantic Love from the French Revolution to Modern Dating Apps
TLDR The concept of romantic love has evolved from the Romanticism movement in the late 1700s to modern dating apps, with influences from media, consumer capitalism, and youth culture. Dating apps, while aiming to connect people, have paradoxically made finding romantic love more challenging by promoting unrealistic ideals and a hyper-individualistic experience.
Timestamped Summary
00:00
Valentine's Day and the modern dating landscape have commodified and detached love, leading to a sense of alienation and loneliness among young people looking for long-term relationships.
04:57
The origins of modern romantic love can be traced back to the French Revolution and the Romanticism movement in the late 1700s, which emphasized individualism and the human emotional experience.
11:38
Romanticism as an international movement was launched in the small German town of Jena, where a group of young thinkers and philosophers lived together in a commune, led by Caroline Schlegel Schelling, and were inspired by the revolutionary idea of the self.
17:23
The Romantics in Jena developed the ideas of Romanticism, emphasizing sexual freedom, pushing against logic and science, and revering nature and the imagination, which were published in the literary magazine Athenaeum edited by Caroline Schlegel Schelling, and these ideas of Romanticism were very different from what we think of today, focusing on liberation and fighting against the constraints of Europe's paternalistic culture.
22:56
Carolina Schlegel Schelling and her friends in Jena created ideas of romanticism that have had a lasting impact, emphasizing the importance of communal being and working together, and these ideas have evolved into modern notions of love influenced by media.
28:46
Veronica collected manuscripts and analyzed media to define the four facets of the romantic ideal: love conquers all, soulmate one and only, love at first sight, and idealization of the partner, and her research shows that these narratives have a lasting impact on our perceptions of love.
34:21
Consuming a lot of romantic screen media can influence one's perception of love and lead them to search for unrealistic ideals in their own relationships, which may contribute to feelings of loneliness and dissatisfaction.
39:43
Dating has always been associated with a sense of crisis and moral panic, and it has evolved over time with consumer capitalism and youth culture.
44:41
The rise of going steady in the 1950s was tied to the economic boom and consumer culture of the time, and similarly, online dating on mobile apps has led to a disembedding of social relationships and a hyper-individualistic experience.
49:24
The economic incentives of dating apps are to keep users on the app, which leads to a paradox of choice and a disconnection from genuine human connection and romance.
54:18
Dating apps, while well-intentioned, have paradoxically made romantic love more elusive, but there is hope that the dating of the future will break from the current gridlock and ultimately make finding love better than it is today.
Categories:
History
Society & Culture
