Love and Desire?

Esther Perel makes an astute observation about the demands we place on modern day love in this enlightening TED talk and must-read book, Mating in Captivity. We really do expect so much from our romantic partners: love, desire, familiarity, novelty, accountability, mystery…the hypocrisies go on forever. This is essentially the first time in human history where we have expected to have sex with the same person for years without the purpose of having ten children because 5 will die, without the knowledge that the marriage was a real-estate transaction (pre-industrial revolution) and without the convenience of a lover/concubine/mistress on the side. We want passionate, fulfilling, monogamous love and sex with the same person for life?! How is this possible? She tries to tell us how.