Love maybe blind, but marriage should be profitable.

During the presidential elections in 2004 in the US a team of psychologists studied 30 men with fMRI, who were strongly committed to either the Republicans or the Democrats. They were shown statements which appeared to show the 2 candidates, Bush and Kerry, as duplicitous. Those who supported the Republicans did not agree that Bush was duplicitous but strongly agreed that Kerry was, while it was the exact opposite with supporters of the Democratic Party. What surprised the scientists was that once a subject had formed his opinion, despite evidence to the contrary, the pleasure center of the brain was activated. It seems that the human brain lies to us. Is that the reason why human beings fall in love? Why would a wealthy western woman marry a compulsive fornicator, like Dominique Strauss Kahn, who told her that he had no obligation to be faithful. Must be because a lying brain blinds us to the object of our desire. " But love is blind and lovers cannot see / The pretty follies that themselves commit. " Love may well be blind but economists have won the Nobel Prize by proving that marriage is based on sound economic principles. Since marriage is a competition to find the best mate the act of getting married is satisfying. Marriage is a partnership in which the couple can accumulate assets, such as tangible goods, and share in non-tangible pleasures of bringing up children. It is more efficient for 2 people to share the same assets, such as property and furniture. Two incomes make the couple more credit worthy which, in turn, helps them to purchase more assets. Sharing of domestic responsibilities allows for more efficient allocation of money and time and to find more time for shared enjoyment. That is why couples who share educational and physical attributes tend stay together. Using game theory economists have shown that it is best not to buy a gift for your partner on Valentine's Day. If both partners buy gifts for each other it is an economic loss because gifts are hugely overpriced for Valentine's Day and if one partner buys a gift and the other does not it will give rise to friction. According to Facebook data break-ups spike during the second half of February. Maybe marriages are not made in heaven after all and the rise in divorces is because people are marrying for love when they should be marrying for economic compatibility. Would it be better to take romance out of marriage and let a bank manager marry people instead of priests? Maybe it will happen when people start traveling through space and fail to find a paradise.