intimacy or independence?

My Social Theory teacher had us read this article about the prevalence of hooking up and it says how many more young people are 'hooking up' (whatever you define that to be) now that marriage ages are higher than they used to be.  Its kinda funny, that the more focused on ourselves and our goals/aspirations we become, the less intimacy we want from other people..but are those goals really for our own satisfaction or for others'? I like to think that I am focused on my school and career so that later in life (with or without a significant other) I am happy with my living situations.  In a way, I like seeing that people are starting to treat romantic relations as icing on the cake, but that time of unrest and detachment is kind of a bittersweet form of independence.  Is the temporary emotional attachment worth it in the long run? ..what do you think??