I think we have all seen this coming:
Some of you may wonder why I rant about maturity. Here's the reason: addicts suffer from a high degree of emotional immaturity. They are biologically adults, and engage in adult activities, but approach them with an infantile and selfish manner. Addicts of eschew the laws of 'cause-and-effect' in favor of 'but-I-want-it.'
The problem with this article is that it is trying to enshrine the recent cultural trend of allowing biological adults to remain in an infantile state contrary to their own nature by pointing to rather subtle biological processes and trying to use them as an excuse.
Well, then, if they are that immature, then they should not be drinking or voting, two of the most dangerous things adults do. See how far those things go. Try nowhere.
A late teen will always pull the immaturity card up until he wants something, and then suddenly he is an adult. In ages past, he was an adult at puberty. It has worked for a long time. The new system is not working, as addictions problems are showing us. Lending scientific credence to a modern cultural phenomenon is bad news for addiction prevention.
Well, at least the article gave some substantial space to one academic who decried the infantilized culture. Odd enough, just this morning Father Ted Bobosh, who wrote a post about a prison conversion to Orthodo, answered a comment of mine with a remark about a deterministic trend in materialism: that is, the idea that we are in personality biologically determined and devoid of free will. Eerily similar to this (albeit more severe).
ReplyDeleteIn case you're interested, Fr. Ted's post is here: http://frted.wordpress.com/2013/10/04/exorcism-in-the-haunt-of-demons/