The top percentile of relationships are surprisingly fabulous, where people report being much improved individuals, experiencing great joy, and working on big things together.
These are necessarily somewhat idiosyncratic and hard to compare. It’s also especially hard to find examples since public opinion doesn’t mix well with the private lives of high achieving folk. Nonetheless, some examples:
- Milton and Rose Friedman
Milton’s wife, Rose, was also an economist - and did you know that they both contributed to each other’s work? See their memoirs on their lives together. It’s worth noting that the majority of their time in the memoirs is spent discussing economics. They also regularly spent months apart as their missions brought either Rose or Milton to different places. - Steve and Laurene Powell Jobs
Steve Jobs reportedly matured significantly and was much improved in his regulation of his emotions after marrying Laurene Powell. One biographer notes: “No one works in a vacuum. Getting married and beginning a family changed Steve profoundly, in ways that had an enormous positive impact on his work.” - Paul Graham and Jessica Livingston
Paul wrote about his wife, Jessica Livingston, and her critical contributions to Y Combinator.
Other points:
- If marriage is so important and difficult-to-reverse, where are the fundamental cultural works that describe how to do it well?
- What were the prevailing views on succesful relationships in the 1960s? Have the norms changed?
Also read:
- This Twitter thread on general principles
- This list of three famous couples in science