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Dean Burnett (that brains guy)

If under-25s are too neurologically underdeveloped to make decisions that affect their body and wellbeing, then that rules out all career athletes under that age. You can't possibly let a 18 year old take up a sport that comes with significant concussion risk, surely?

/16

11 comments
Dean Burnett (that brains guy) replied to Dean Burnett (that brains guy)

Also, let's follow the logic to its conclusion

If having a brain functioning at its peak is a requirement of making important decisions, then it's probably more important to have a *maximum* age limit than a minimum. Because the older you are, the more your brain wears out

/17

Dean Burnett (that brains guy) replied to Dean Burnett (that brains guy)

Thanks to basic entropy, if you're at retirement age, your brain will likely be losing fluid intelligence, the ability to reason, solve problems etc.

Can you trust such people to make important decisions? If you insist and a peak-performance brain, then technically no

/18

Dean Burnett (that brains guy) replied to Dean Burnett (that brains guy)

That's not my stance, in the slightest. But if you're going to make rigid rules that insist on individual's brains having the capability of a 'fully developed' one, then you can't ignore the fact that this development can be 'reversed' due to the consequences of age.

/19

Dean Burnett (that brains guy) replied to Dean Burnett (that brains guy)

In any case, if we're going to insist on adulthood being determined by this sort of biological absolutism, then in the biological sense, an 'adult' organism is one that is capable of reproducing. So, humans are adults as soon as puberty its. I.e. 11-12 years old.

/20

Dean Burnett (that brains guy) replied to Dean Burnett (that brains guy)

No, I don't think any rational person in modern society would consider an 11yo an adult. There are countless other factors to consider

But that's tacit acknowledgement of the fact that hard biological boundaries as a decider of human development are a bad idea

[Hint hint]

/21

Dean Burnett (that brains guy) replied to Dean Burnett (that brains guy)

Point is, it honestly doesn't matter what issue it's being applied to, the whole 'Those under 25 have underdeveloped brains' argument doesn't hold up any way you slice it.

It's often just an easy way of dismissing the valid perspective of younger people. Which isn't good.

/end

Dean Burnett (that brains guy) replied to Dean Burnett (that brains guy)

If you'd like to know more about how we deal with emotions and how they affect our thinking at all stages of life, my latest book is about exactly that

amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/178335174

JustAFrog replied to Dean Burnett (that brains guy)

@Garwboy I've come to believe that whenever someone is putting forth an argument that kids are physically incapable of handling something, it's definitely nonsense.

I've only ever seen this from people interested in keeping kids powerless and unheard.

enoch_exe_inc replied to JustAFrog

@justafrog @Garwboy Which is most people, in my experience. If I had basic human rights when I was a kid, I could have saved myself a lot of unnecessary suffering.

JustAFrog replied to enoch_exe_inc

@enoch_exe_inc @Garwboy Wish you were wrong.

So many people thought it was quite normal to skip past the consent step with me, and certainly didn't consult me before deciding about me.

Only when I could legally sue their asses did they suddenly discover respect for personal autonomy.

That was a very interesting change. So they know about the concept, just can't be assed to apply it to people who can't fight back?

Fucking creeps.

Wayne Werner replied to JustAFrog

@justafrog @enoch_exe_inc @Garwboy I just saw the best thing ever:

> Never trust someone who won't apologize to a child.

And that's my new litmus test for "is this human being someone I can trust as far as I can throw them?"

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