People will change their lives because of Covid. Maybe.

After a couple of months of quarantine, commentators across the world are speculating about what will happen to relationships and the world.

Will the divorce rate go up? The Boston Globe notes that some cities in China had a spike in divorce applications following the COVID-19 outbreak. Perhaps familiarity breeds contempt.

Will more people get married? Maybe the isolation of quarantine was too much. One city-dwelling 20-something wrote in Medium that he lived for 20-second text contacts, and he felt adrift.

Maybe marriage and family, the old solution, will be the new solution.

Radical social transformation? A UK economist writes in the Future that COVID-19 will require radical social change, a new socialist model. It’s not just a few weeks at home.

Subtle social transformation? Sybil Francis, President & CEO of the Center for the Future of Arizona, wrote in azcentral.com, that COVID started the trend toward telemedicine, telecommuting, and more sympathy toward the vulnerable.

An end to polarization? A Columbia University professor who studies intractable conflict, writes in Politico an idea he admits is idealistic: Perhaps we will all come together to unite against a common enemy. He asserts that 75 percent of inter-state conflicts have ended 10 years after a colossal shock to the system.

Will education be online and personal? Katherine Mangu-Ward, a senior editor at Reason, thinks the resistance to homeschooling will be swept away, at least for K-12.

More fun? Mary Frances Berry, professor of American Social Thought, history, and African Studies at the University of Pennsylvania, thinks people will look for carefree entertainment.