Immaturity Levels Rising

[strmrdr]

http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2006/06/23/immature_hum.html?category=human&guid=20060623110030

I wondered why fart jokes were stiill funny :}

 

[strmrdr]

"The faults of youth are retained along with the virtues, he believes. These include short attention span, sensation and novelty-seeking, short cycles of arbitrary fashion and a sense of cultural shallowness."

 

[Selkie]

Hmmm. I tried to read the article but got bored halfway through.

I agree with this:
“But formal education requires a child-like stance of receptivity to new learning, and cognitive flexibility."

but I wonder about the accuracy of this:
"When formal education continues into the early twenties," he continued, "it probably, to an extent, counteracts the attainment of psychological maturity, which would otherwise occur at about this age.”

I wonder if this doesn''t have more to do with the social culture of undergraduate education, more so than the academic component, at least in the US. Many *typical* undergrads (i.e. 18-22 years old, straight out of HS, used to living with parents) are still living in something of a cocoon in college.

It''s an interesting concept, and while they do say that this "immaturity" can be adaptive (in that it gives an advantage in succeeding economically), the word "immature" has very negative connotations.

What does this say about those of us who posted in the graduate degree poll thread?