14 Apr 2011

WHEN ARE YOU ADULT ?

Jenny Matlock
more participants at Jenny Matlock's Alphabet Thursday

Letter A

In a discussion with my acqua gym group we discussed when exactly are you becoming an adult ? It's not so easy to know. When you listen to children psychologists, psychiatrists or childhood analysts, you get the feeling that they all entered the world as adults and had forgotten that once they had been babies too.

To know exactly when I became an adult I asked my good old friend Mr. Google and he gave me the following explanations.


The term adult describes any mature organism, but normally it refers to a human: one that is no longer a child / minor and is now either a man or a woman" In short, when your sex organs outfit is completed"

Now here I have serious doubts because at 13 my organ outfit was there, but I certainly wasn't an adult yet. Not even at 21 when I had the major age, and today it is even reduced to 18. When you see 18 years old, who lives already of his own and takes his own responsibilities ?

and then it's specified :

....sex characteristics form such as Body hair and facial hair, Voice lowers in pitch (especially noticeable in men), and Menses begin (women).

So I am still not adult because I don't have a moustache and long hairs coming out of my nose and ears.

But good old Google comforted me with the following very intelligent answer

"One thing people don't specify is what (Psychologically) an adult is. A common theory is that adulthood is the real test or life, to experience the world from a first person stand point instead of you parents. Then you can pass those experiences down to the younger people and then they can experience it when they grow up".

But there is something wrong too, if you try to pass your experiences down to your own children they send you to hell because they know everything better, as we probably did with our own parents too. It only works with younger people other than your own.

"Adult" also means "not considered suitable for children", such as adult entertainment, adult video, adult magazine, adult bookstore".

Have you ever noticed that when people are at the end of their arguments, just tell you that you behave "childish" ?

21 comments:

  1. That sure is a tricky answer. I guess there are really two answers. One is physical and the other is mental. So when the body is able to reproduce then you are an adult, physically. When you behave in a mature way and are able to be a responsible member of a society then you are an adult (Some people never get to that stage)

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  2. Seems I only had about five minutes of being an adult before I went straight to second childhood, which in some ways is more fun than the first.

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  3. Hee. What a fun post :) You do have a very good point though. I think the whole concept of adult is something that varies from person to person too. Like for example, both my husband and I consider ourselves an "adult" because we make our own living, have a child and are doing things that an adult is suppose to do. However, his parents thing that we're still kids because we still play video games and act like children when we visit them. Plus, even though we are doing responsible adult things, both he and I still feel like we're young kids :) So I guess it depends on each individual.

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  4. Somehow, I don't like to think of myself as adult because the folks around me won't allow me to be childish when I need to! Great post!

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  5. Bodily I would have been an adult at 11, mentally? Depends on who you ask. And even I am not sure about it...

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  6. I look adult, I even act adult sometimes but I don't feel very grown-up most of the time;-/

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  7. I physically had matured by the time I was 17. I had 2 children by the time I was 20, but...I was not grown up until I was 50!

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  8. I like to behave childish sometimes.....it's much more fun!

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  9. At age 60 i'm still not sure!!!

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  10. Good point on the "you're being childish" argument.

    Neat post!

    =)

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  11. reading through the comments, too...
    definitely a tricky one, the definition of adulthood is! There are different aspects, I suppose, besides just the physical.
    I like the second childhood idea!
    This was a fun post, Gattina!

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  12. LOL. Perhaps its good that no one can specify exactly when adulthood begins because it's an excuse for us all to be children forever :)

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  13. I wish I could act childish sometimes....wait, sometimes I do act childish..it's kind of fun!

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  14. I remember our biology teacher telling us that we reach adulthood when we realize that the world no longer revolves around us (as if it ever did!)... I still think of that as a good definition And this from a man who denied there was any such thing as "intelligence"..!

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  15. Yes well as the body matures, the brain requires understanding and understanding comes with learning which is different from being instructed.
    Today there is more instructing going on which is interpreted as learning and educating.
    So while your body may be mature,and adult, your mind might not be because it hasn't caught up.
    Also there is the genetic thing about the mind which separates children from adults. They can only absorb so much understanding per year so when you talk to them thinking they understand, they do understand but only from a certain perspective and or view.
    Like my Mom told me don;t put your hand on the flame or it will burn.
    When I saw her by the flame I told her the same thing while putting my hand on the flame. I understood without truly understanding.lol
    This is why I believe children have their own world but adults and pressure groups do not understand this.
    and/ or dont care.

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  16. Hey all this talk just reminded me of my number one nuclear missile to use in arguments with the opposite sex. When she starts pulling that babywoman act I point out sternly that she is a grown woman and shouldn't be acting like that ~ and there's nothing she can say or do because it's a compliment and it's true.

    Works a treat every time!

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  17. Nonononono! I don't want to grow up!!!! I refuse!!!!!
    Thanks, Gattina, for such a good post!!

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  18. What a great question with a complex answer!

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  19. I didn't consider myself to be an adult until I was in my mid-30s or so.

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  20. Eventually we all grow up. But we can be immature whenever:)

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  21. an old fellow often came into the office where I worked for many years. He said he had a friend who was very childish -- and one day the guy was complaining and whimpering about life. His friend said, "I should have died when I was a baby"
    ... and the old guy turned to him and said, "You may yet!"

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