So Kurtz writes an eloquent, stirring report for the International Society for the Suppression of Savage Customs in which he romanticizes imperialism, at one point saying:

By the simple exercise of our will we can exert a power for good practically unbounded.

Most of the report stands in stark contrast to the deranged postscript, which Marlow described as a “flash of lightning in serene sky.” This hints at Kurtz' eventual delusion, reinforced by the mention of an “unsteady hand” which wrote this postscript “evidently much later.”

Quest alludes to this throughout, but disco’s origins resemble Hip Hop’s origins in many ways:

• Both began as subcultural (i.e. underground) movements.
• Both had urban beginnings.
• Both grew out of a very social landscape (e.g. dance halls & block parties).
• Both were driven by a radical new aesthetic and style.
• Finally, both were created and initially supported by marginalized populations.

Although it is not at all clear whether “forbidden love” tropes are responsible, O'Conner’s point here is valid: there are very specific sexual scripts we all adhere to based on our experiences and observations (whether real or imagined), and these scripts often conflict with real life.

In their study, “An affair to remember: The role of sexual scripts in perceptions of sexual intent”, Lanton and Bryon (2005) found that individuals tend to fill in the missing information of an interaction with script-consistent details, e.g. if the interaction takes place at a party, people will assume alcohol is involved whether explicitly stated or not.

Participants who filled in the blanks with information consistent with the given sexual script were more likely to impute sexual intent to the targets. This occurred regardless of the type of sexual script implicated (i.e., casual vs. committed), suggesting that available sexual relationship scripts..are associated with memory errors and, ultimately, increasing perception of sexual intent.

Ironically, reading all those sexy-time suburban-mom books might actually contribute to the fact that nobody waits in real life.

A 2009 study at Northwestern university found that reading romance novels leads to a reluctance to practice precautionary sexual behavior, especially when it comes to using condoms.

Manti Te'o is a linebacker for the San Diego Chargers, arguably most famous for getting “catfish’d” in the highly publicized dead girlfriend hoax.

From the Cornell study (pg. 560):

Intimacy dynamics may operate differently across interpersonal media. [It has been] shown that LD couples use different maintenance strategies in different interpersonal media..when alternatives are limited, communicators are likely to adapt to the constrained situation in pursuit of the desired communication effect, such as enhancing intimacy

If individuals must adapt communication strategies when using technology, could it be that people have adapted their communication strategies so much that it has significantly effected their face-to-face communication strategies?

Hmm…

Titled “Absence Makes the Communication Grow Fonder: Geographic Separation, Interpersonal Media, and Intimacy in Dating Relationships.” Check it out (in full) here

This is an interesting claim. The study from Cornell explains (pg. 561):

People typically have strong preferences for cue multiplicity [i.e. the extent to which a medium can convey multiple cues such as voice inflection, body language, etc.], high synchronicity [i.e. the degree of instantaneousness],
and less mobility [i.e. portability of communication tool] for interpersonally complex interactions.

In other words, humans naturally prefer face-to-face interactions. However, with the rise of internet dating, an argument could be made that people do, in fact, ignore those around them, in favor of long distance contacts.

While this particular study did find that mediated communication has a tendency to enhance perceptions of intimacy compared to face-to-face communication, the confessions were not identical.

Furthermore, the literature plainly shows that couples in long distance relationships will compensate by adapting their communication behavior. This study showed that increased “self-disclosure” (common in LDDRs) explained virtually all of the variance in perceptions of intimacy (pg. 569).

While the dependent variables (psychological stress, distance, relationship certainty and attitudes toward LDDRs) explained between 20-25% of the variance in the outcome of all other measures (intimacy, commitment, etc.), it only explained 6% of the variance in sexual satisfaction. It also explained 8% of the variance in sexual communication.

• Sexual Satisfaction: Participants who reported less distress, more face-to-face contact, and greater relationship certainty also reported higher levels of sexual satisfaction.
• Sexual Communication: Participants who reported less distress, greater distance, and greater relationship certainty also reported higher levels of sexual communication.