
The Cognitive Upside to an Extended Adolescence - ohaikbai
https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2016/11/metaplasticity/506390/
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ideonexus
Further reading, youthful mental characteristics appear to keep the brain
plastic and adaptable to change. Remain childlike, with the accompanying sense
of wonder and engagement in the world to retain your intellectual vigor:

[https://www.hedweb.com/bgcharlton/ed-
boygenius.html](https://www.hedweb.com/bgcharlton/ed-boygenius.html)

From an evolutionary perspective, humans very much resemble juvenile
chimpanzees physically. There is something about this neoteny that might give
insights to our highly adaptable intelligence.

~~~
GarrisonPrime
It's almost like the Taoist masters were on to something. ;)

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forkandwait
The article uses the 1950s a reference point for the age at which people leave
the home and parents, but the 1950s are actually an anomaly, weirdly young for
marriage and household formation, at least for Western Europe culture.

~~~
pjlegato
Er. The usual marriage age for a girl in premodern and early modern western
European culture (and many other cultures worldwide) was "the onset of
menses," or about 12 to 14 years old. ("Romeo and Juliet" takes place just
before Juliet's 14th birthday.) Even in the modern era, the typical marriage
age for women was 16 or 17 well into the 20th century in most of the western
world.

The reference point of the 1950s to the present is an anomaly because it's
weirdly _old_ in western culture, not weirdly young.

~~~
forkandwait
(1) You are wrong, at since the middle ages in Europe. See child comment on
Western pattern of marriage. I would be interested in your sources besides
Romeo and Juliet, where if I remember correctly, they are told they are too
young.

(2) The referenced article isn't really about marriage, but about the
transition from adolescence to adulthood. There is a difference between a
person getting married/ starting to have children versus setting up a
household in which a person has an "adult" role; in the recent, Euro-derived
West they are one and the same, but not so universally. And in the West, late
age for marriage, and lots of non-married is the norm, and that pattern is
pretty unique in the world.

If you do a graduate degree in demography, you learn all this. There isn't
really any debate about it anymore, though it is very cool and interesting to
discuss because it challenges our received knowledge about "normal". Don't get
me started on fertility rates for women over 40 and their historical
trends....

Among poor people in the US it is fairly common for a girl to have her first
baby when she is 17 / 18/ 19 but still live at home; she has hardly left
adolescence even if the boyfriend/ husband is also around...

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softbuilder
>Don't get me started on fertility rates for women over 40 and their
historical trends....

Don't leave this hanging. At least point in the direction you're going.

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fliploop
I'm under 25, pay my own bills, own a house and company and remain childlike.

It has nothing to do with unemployment. It's about how you use your time.

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B1FF_PSUVM
Is it just me, or are 40-year old "adolescents" kind of terrifying?

~~~
pmarreck
44 year old successful programmer into the latest tech (Elixir/Phoenix) and
gamer into the latest games (Overwatch, Fallout, etc.) here. No kids (adds to
my "immaturity," I guess), live with a girlfriend. A little offended/saddened
at your comment, actually. Tech ageism at its finest, I guess.

You'll eventually figure out that as you age, it's just your body aging
mainly. You will continue to learn things and get "wiser," but your
_personality_ is immutable data, basically. I first noticed this at my 20-year
high school reunion... I grew up without Facebook so this was the first time I
had seen many people in 20 years... and I didn't recognize many of them
(usually the ones who gained a bunch of weight... note, I did not)... until I
looked into their eyes, and/or until they cracked a joke or said something,
and then suddenly it was like OMG THAT IS THE SAME EXACT FUNNY PERSON THEY
WERE IN HIGH SCHOOL, clear as day.

~~~
emodendroket
Generally tech ageism runs in the other direction.

~~~
pmarreck
Tech ageism runs _against_ younger people? Since when is this?

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emodendroket
No? It runs against the outward signs of maturity, like looking older, not
wanting to stay up all night writing code and playing ping-pong, having a
family, and so on.

~~~
pmarreck
That's what I was originally suggesting, since the original comment was about
older "adolescents" being creepy

