Returning to Eden.

We’re returning to Eden.

The feeling’s there, slowly rippling through society, quietly as if not to disturb. There haven’t been many words put to this return, but there is a faint voice ringing out calling us all back. Hints abound here and there; however, like fluorescent city lights that glow that sickening hospital blue, you’re blinded from where Eden even is.

When I say ‘Eden,’ it's not in an end-of-the-world rapture sense but in one that feels of a return to a long, overdue trip to paradise — a renaissance.

So why Eden?

Leaving the office the other day, I caught a headline on a TV next to the elevator that the dating app Bumble is declining in growth. Fewer users equal less money which equals less love (not that the company cares about the latter).

Surely, many other dating apps are in the same boat.

Months ago, I recall seeing wheatpaste Tinder ads promoting their new Events product — because gourmands for all things running, books, and ceramics, and just about anything worth getting together for, is gaining traction. When you’re a dying business, you weasel your way into where the people are.

While a new product can be a positive sign, my guess, with the news I just read about Bumble, an expansion into the community space is the business equivalent of grasping at straws. I, along with investors, don't see this working out long-term (I, more so, not at all).

This reminds me of Neil Howe and William Strauss, who co-wrote The Fourth Turning, in which they argue how every generation rejects the beliefs and values of the one before them.

Dating apps have existed for over a decade, and fatigue is beginning to settle in. Newer generations are starting to reject them, much as we reject grandma’s Facebook friend requests (if you're the same age as me).

All this to say, this isn’t really about dating apps.

It’s one micro facet of a much larger cultural shift — one where a rebirthing, a return to Eden, is pending. The words to describe this return aren’t quite there yet, though there are signs.

Hoping I’m not wrong, this all feels like we’re collectively turning toward peace, simplicity, and selectivity over how we spend our days, and with whom — all in favor of randomness and fate over algorithms and feeds.

There’s an app for everything — some things worth having are just not going to come from a feed.

They were always going to come from somewhere closer to Eden.

- George