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PaperclipPerfector  1d ago (text post)   4512 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of May 25, 2026

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I wouldn’t say he’s repudiating it. This is the same thing as puberty. It occurs in people at different ages. For me it was late and I had a growth spurt over 18. Others it occurs at 12.

The law though needs a specific age. Theoretically we could someday do brain scans that can declare “X process in brain development occurred” and thus he’s an adult. I don’t know if the tech is there yet but it’s probably expensive if it has. 25 is good enough for the law.

The law though needs a specific age. Theoretically we could someday do brain scans that can declare “X process in brain development occurred” and thus he’s an adult

I'm not sure why all of those are linked. Societies throughout all of time have shown us that the time between roughly 16-20 is good enough for maturity in a society that expects actual maturity. Often younger, midshipmen were often like 11-12 when they joined (David Farragut being a famous example of 9). They skewed so young that being over 18 made you an oldster. A young boy in the medieval period might begin working as an attendant as early as seven years old.

The idea that legal adulthood needs to be set at a point where brain development of all forms stopped, and that point is into the 20s-30s just doesn't match up with what society already knew, teenagers especially the older ones are mature enough to be accountable for their choices.

What exact age we pick for easy legal schelling point reasons doesn't matter too much, but it should generally be in the 16-20 range at most so we don't unnecessarily take away too many years of freedom from mature enough people.

Potentially true. I am not expert here.

But if we are basing adulthood on brain maturation the biological won’t occur at a specific age for everyone. Picking a legal age would just be an age where most people have done the thing biologically.

basing adulthood on brain maturation

Which is a self-fulfilling prophecy.

People think this process occurs magically, like some sort of "everyone's born black but they lighten gradually over time, and are granted rights at a specific shade of white", but people who maturity isn't expected of do not mature.

Set the age and expectations at X, and you'll see development delayed to match. The soft bigotry of low expectations is a thing.

I 100% think there is a cultural component to behavior.

You would agree right that if expected me to be full height earlier it would not have made me grow at a younger age? I hit my growth spurt at age 17-19?

I think there is almost certainly a biological component with the mind too.

Would you agree that assuming you want to play basketball, it would be better to teach you how to play basketball before your growth spurt hit, rather than wait until you're the tallest you'll ever be?

Sure.

But on maturity. I think for any given standard of maturity a society enforces a 15 year old will break that standard more than a 25 year old.

Setting expectations early and actually expecting high results early are not the same thing and I do not see anyone here suggesting the latter.

Depends on whether you think the mindset behind success at basketball is good or not.

If you don't, you'll say "it's not worth the time/resources to teach these people before it is physically optimal, what about the risk of injury to self or others?". If your social position is threatened by people better able to play this game, you will generally be in this camp. This is the "conservative" position.

If you do, you'll likely be in favor of encouraging young people to play basketball, and you accept the fact that some of them will play poorly, break bones, etc. If your social position is not threatened by people better able to play this game, you will generally be in this camp. This is the "liberal" position.

Well yeah, the point of the legal age isn't to pinpoint for everyone it's just to make our lives easier.

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