# Can you envision yourself married for 150 years to the same person? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 16, 2010, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-envision-yourself-married-for-150-years-to-the-same-person/550431 "2010-08-16T18:08:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2010, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-envision-yourself-married-for-150-years-to-the-same-person/550431/21 "2010-08-16T20:46:32Z")
> [@Polerius](#): > > (Are Dopers particularly good at finding mates for life?) I divorced the one that wasn’t a good mate for me for life. I want to spend eternity with my _right_ mate! ---
**Author:** ![Polerius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d78d45/32.png) [@Polerius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polerius)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2010, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-envision-yourself-married-for-150-years-to-the-same-person/550431/22 "2010-08-16T21:33:33Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > You don’t have nearly a big enough sample for the results to be statistically significant yet. You’re right of course, but I think there is an additional reason for the results (as of this writing, 70% say they can envision being married to the same person for 150 years) Maybe people who are very happy & content in their marriages are more likely to respond to this poll, while people who are unhappy in the marriages don’t really feel like responding (they don’t want to remind themselves of their situation, or they don’t want their spouse to find out [“what do you mean you don’t want to be with me forever?”], or some other reasons) ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2010, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-envision-yourself-married-for-150-years-to-the-same-person/550431/23 "2010-08-16T21:57:34Z")
> [@Polerius](#): > > ETA: If 65% of people can envision themselves married to the same person for 150 years, how does this explain the 50% divorce rate? You didn’t ask if people would stay married to the same person they are currently married to. You asked if people could imagine being married to the same person for 150 years. Those are different questions, since the latter can be asking about an ideal spouse and an ideal situation and is open to people who do not currently have a spouse. ---
**Author:** ![Polerius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d78d45/32.png) [@Polerius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polerius)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2010, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-envision-yourself-married-for-150-years-to-the-same-person/550431/24 "2010-08-16T22:07:01Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > > [@Polerius](#): > > > > ETA: If 65% of people can envision themselves married to the same person for 150 years, how does this explain the 50% divorce rate? > > You didn’t ask if people would stay married to the same person they are currently married to. You asked if people could imagine being married to the same person for 150 years. Those are different questions, since the latter can be asking about an ideal spouse and an ideal situation and is open to people who do not currently have a spouse. Good point. (Although I do see lots of people in this thread who are married and say that they would stay with their current spouse forever. Maybe the poll should have had another option for “can you envision staying with your current spouse for 150 years?”) ---
**Author:** ![Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Springtime_for_Spacers)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2010, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-envision-yourself-married-for-150-years-to-the-same-person/550431/25 "2010-08-16T22:14:08Z")
I can’t answer this poll because a, I’m never gonna get married again not never no way b. I \*can \*envision being with my current partner for 150 yrs (or 1,500) and c. I can’t begin to speak for anyone else. ---
**Author:** ![lavenderviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/cdc98d/32.png) [@lavenderviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lavenderviolet)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2010, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-envision-yourself-married-for-150-years-to-the-same-person/550431/26 "2010-08-16T23:52:01Z")
Yeah, I actually can picture wanting to stay with my boyfriend for 150 years. He’s my best friend and we get along ridiculously well. If people lived for 150 years, maybe people would be more cautious and picky about who they marry instead of feeling a need to rush into something at a young age like many people do. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-envision-yourself-married-for-150-years-to-the-same-person/550431/27 "2010-08-17T00:16:52Z")
I can imagine being married 150 years to my spouse… but I am not _certain_ we’d make it that long. My parents were married nearly 60 years - I think it’s conceivable they could have been married much longer except mom died. ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-envision-yourself-married-for-150-years-to-the-same-person/550431/28 "2010-08-17T07:06:37Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > Well, if 100% of the people who get married imagine themselves being married, how do you explain the 50% divorce rate? This statistic is quoted often, but it is slightly misleading. Assuming there really is a 50% divorce rate, you have to take into consideration that the SAME people are marrying and divorcing multiple times. For instance, my idiot younger brother has been married and divorced eight (8) times! Thus, even assuming this 50% statistic is true, it certainly does not mean that every other couple is destined to get divorced. It just means that idiots like my brother will always find some equally idiotic woman to marry, making some attorneys quite happy. Forgot to mention the other problem with this statistic: It is based off of marriages per year…so assuming for instance there are 10 million getting married, and 5 million getting divorced in the the same year, that still doesn’t account for the perhaps 100 million still married and not added to the mix. ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-envision-yourself-married-for-150-years-to-the-same-person/550431/29 "2010-08-17T07:41:28Z")
No, I can’t. I’m sure I’d say otherwise if I was in a serious relationship at the moment but frankly, I’d be lying. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-envision-yourself-married-for-150-years-to-the-same-person/550431/30 "2010-08-17T07:43:16Z")
I can’t envision living for 150 years. I’d probably cut it short artificially. But in any case, I voted option 4. I think society and laws would have provision for multiple marriages within a lifetime as being the expected standard. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-envision-yourself-married-for-150-years-to-the-same-person/550431.md?page=1)