What is maturity?

Psychological Definition• “Maturity in psychology has little to do with age, but with

the ability to react, cope and reason in an appropriate way for the situation. Maturity is learned through experiences and comes from healthy growth, just like a strong body. A parent gives a child food, rest and exercise for the growth of a strong body. Guidance in coping with emotional situations is what is needed to grow in maturity. The way a person deals with a crisis or makes decisions are good clues about their level of maturity”

NeuroscienceExerts from Volume 45 of the Journal Of Adolescent Health

• In the last decade, a growing body of longitudinal neuroimaging research has demonstrated that adolescence is a period of continued brain growth and change, challenging longstanding assumptions that the brain was largely finished maturing by puberty [1], [2], [3]. The frontal lobes, home to key components of the neural circuitry underlying “executive functions” such as planning, working memory, and impulse control, are among the last areas of the brain to mature; they may not be fully developed until halfway through the third decade of life [2]. This finding has prompted interest in linking stage of neuromaturation to maturity of judgment. Indeed, the promise of a biological explanation for often puzzling adolescent health risk behavior has captured the attention of the media, parents, policymakers, and clinicians alike. Although such research is currently underway, many neuroscientists argue that empirical support for a causal relationship between neuromaturational processes and real-world behavior is currently lacking [4].

• “Although neuroscience has been called upon to determine adulthood, there is little empirical evidence to support age 18, the current legal age of majority, as an accurate marker of adult capacities.”

What my roommate thinks

• Maturity is an ideal, not anything real.• It’s not inherently good, just social cohesion.• It’s not the same as common sense but it falls

under maturity.– Maturity is supposed to develop from common

sense

Smart People

• I live in that solitude which is painful in youth, but delicious in the years of maturity.– Einstein

• Maturity is the ability to reap without apology and not complain when things don't go well. – Rohn

• The rate at which a person can mature is directly proportional to the embarrassment he can tolerate.– Engelbart

• I am convinced that most people do not grow up...We marry and dare to have children and call that growing up. I think what we do is mostly grow old. We carry accumulation of years in our bodies, and on our faces, but generally our real selves, the children inside, are innocent and shy as magnolias.– Angelou

Is it even that desirable?• So the secret to good self-esteem is to lower your expectations to the point where

they’re already met?• Childhood is short and maturity is forever.

– Watterson

• There was that word again. Mature. Was this what maturity was? Giving up on the things we wanted because we knew we’d never get them?– Peterfreund

• Maturity is often more absurd than youth and very frequently is most unjust to youth. – Edison

• Maturity is a bitter disappointment for which no remedy exists, unless laughter could be said to remedy anything.– Vonnegut

My Idealistic Interpretation

Immaturity• Interrupts• Knows everything• Disrespectful

– rude• Most important

– acts out– envious– wasteful

• Overly excited or dismissive, uncomfortable• Dependent on others

• Inaction– Immediate gratification

• Ego and Id control• Interprets change as threatening, bad• Fuck the system!

Maturity• Listens• Knows nothing• Respectful

– polite• A part of the whole

– understands that they are their environment, not separate

• Calm, comfortable• Self sufficient

– Takes responsibility for self and others• Action

– Delayed gratification• Superego control

• Sees beauty, opportunity in change• Abides