What defines an adult?

[Moonshadow]

This is something that I have been pondering over for a while now. What is it exactly, that defines a person as an adult? When exactly do we make the transition from boy/girl into man/woman?

I'm not sure if I would even call myself an adult, at the moment. I personally feel that I'm still lacking something that would initiate that change, but like most things, it's probably my depression and lack of self esteem that are giving me problems with that.

So, what defines an adult? Someone who has a full time job? Someone who has a car and a license? Someone who has moved out of their parents home, whether it be renting with friends, or college, or perhaps having bought that elusive first home?

What do people think constitutes an adult?

(For the record, I'm 23, I have a full time job, albeit thats from working with my dad for over 2 years now, but full time just the same. I still live at home, and I don't have my full licence, just my learners, because I'm kinda rather scared of driving. I don't really consider myself an adult)

[Seffbasilisk]

Someone who can reign in the impulses of the moment, and do what needs to be done.

[ghost_warlock]

Someone who's too busy dealing with adult things to worry about whether or not they're an adult. :smalltongue:

[Innis Cabal]

Being an adult is knowing when to put aside your toys, but remembering where you put them for when your finished doing what needs done.

[Klose_the_Sith]

Someone who can reign in the impulses of the moment, and do what needs to be done.

I've been doing that since 14.


Being an adult is knowing when to put aside your toys, but remembering where you put them for when your finished doing what needs done.

I've been doing that since age 8.

[Innis Cabal]

Adults also don't bring up they're adults because it doesn't matter.

[Ichneumon]

I'd say what makes you an adult is being able to accept your place and not make illogical exceptions for yourself (e.g. "I wish people didn't drive through a red traffic light! It's dangerous!", yet still doing it yourself when you can) Yes, this indeed means that some people are grown up at the age of 12, while others never do...

[Galileo]

"Critics who treat adult as a term of approval, instead of as a merely descriptive term, cannot be adults themselves. To be concerned about being grown up, to admire the grown up because it is grown up, to blush at the suspicion of being childish; these things are the marks of childhood and adolescence.... When I was ten, I read fairy tales in secret and would have been ashamed if I had been found doing so. Now that I am fifty, I read them openly. When I became a man, I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up." -C S Lewis.

[Dr.Epic]

I actually believe that no one fully becomes an adult and that our childish side and (to some degree) lack of complete responsibility makes us all children forever.

[ScottishDragon]

I actually believe that no one fully becomes an adult and that our childish side and (to some degree) lack of complete responsibility makes us all children forever.

What about the adults that hate children?

[Yora]

I'd say you're an adult when you identify with other people you consider to be adults. As a child, you naturally assume a role on which adults are regarded as having a natural authority and having a complete understanding of the world. As a child, you may socialize with adults, but they are a distinctly different group than your friends, who are also children.
As an adult, the authority and knowledge of other adults can be challenged. They may be in control and may have a better understanding, but you chose to follow their advice because you share their assesment and not because you believe them to be right by default. As a result, you can start to make adult friends. And while you may still have non-adults you socialize with, you have an understanding that they regard you as an adult and not a child.

[Dr.Epic]

What about the adults that hate children?

Because you can't hate what you are? What?:smallconfused:

[Lillith]

I think it is probably a combination of things. For example one has to be able to take care if his own. Be independent and be able to make rational decisions most of the time while also having an eye for the consequences of his own actions. In the long run one should be able to take care of himself and someone else, for example a spouse and/or a kid.

What has nothing to do with being an adult is whether or not you play games, read comics, watch cartoons, other 'kiddy stuff'. Like to go to cons or fairs or theme parks. Getting married and/or having kids while age dependent (at least for the marriage one) is not an indication if someone is grown up or not. Having a kid doesn't mean you can take care of it, having a spouse doesn't mean you can make the marriage work.

Also if we want to be biological about it, a human is completely biologically mature around the age of 25, when their brains have stopped developing. With the rationality part being the last one to develop in the brain.

I have to point out I'm 22 and haven't fulfilled my own list of 'demands' so to speak. It's just my opinion to the question. :smallwink:

[WarKitty]

I'd say you're an adult when you identify with other people you consider to be adults. As a child, you naturally assume a role on which adults are regarded as having a natural authority and having a complete understanding of the world. As a child, you may socialize with adults, but they are a distinctly different group than your friends, who are also children.
As an adult, the authority and knowledge of other adults can be challenged. They may be in control and may have a better understanding, but you chose to follow their advice because you share their assesment and not because you believe them to be right by default. As a result, you can start to make adult friends. And while you may still have non-adults you socialize with, you have an understanding that they regard you as an adult and not a child.

That could have described me starting around age 14. :smallyuk: I didn't have many same-age friends until college. Before that they were just so...immature.

[Haruki-kun]

Someone who can reign in the impulses of the moment, and do what needs to be done.

I disagree. Adults canfail to do these things.


"Critics who treat adult as a term of approval, instead of as a merely descriptive term, cannot be adults themselves. To be concerned about being grown up, to admire the grown up because it is grown up, to blush at the suspicion of being childish; these things are the marks of childhood and adolescence.... When I was ten, I read fairy tales in secret and would have been ashamed if I had been found doing so. Now that I am fifty, I read them openly. When I became a man, I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up." -C S Lewis.

I agree.

Personally, I used to go around thinking that "kids are stupid". They always want to grow up because they think of not having parents telling them off, reaching high places, not having to go to school... But they don't really know what growing up entails. Eventually I just realized that kids are kids.

I think the moment you realize what it really is is when you become an adult.

[Frozen_Feet]

My definition of adult is "someone who stops worrying about growing up and starts to wish he was younger". :smalltongue:

[nihilism]

hmmm

our gloriously enlightened culture suggests that adulthood has nothing to do with maturity, responsibility or intellect. Society has consistently decided individuals lacking said characteristics are in fact adults.

"im a white male aged 18-55, everyone listens to me no matter how dumb my opinions are." Homer Simpson.

"oh my god its like a huge rat?" random adult i once overheard learning about capybaras.

[Cealocanth]

Leagally? Age 18 or older.

In my opinion, an adult is someone who is ready to accept the fact that they are not the center of the universe and that they have to take their own lives into their hands. They are prepared to consider the next generation.

[GrlumpTheElder]

You're only and adult once you have taken the Adult Exam. You never know when you are going to take the exam; it could be at any time - a man in a grey coat will one day walk up to you and hand you the exam to fill in. Once done, if you pass you are an adult.

Seriously, I always used to condier becoming an Adult at the age of 18 (When you are legally considered an Adult here in the UK) but now I am 19 it feels weird that I am classed as an Adult. I think that when I have finished University and have a Job I will think of myself as a full adult. At the moment I'm in that transitional phase between teenage-ness and adulthood.

[Ponderthought]

You become an adult when you realize that, yes, one day, you will die. It's not a fun thing to be.

[Starbuck_II]

There is no true metamorphisis.

Many people that you think are adults are still children. Many children are already adults.
It is a thin fine line that is too transparent to see sometimes.

An adult is one that realizes that there are things worth fighting for...

see:
"Sometimes the things that may or may not be true are the things a man needs to believe in the most. That people are basically good; that honor, courage, and virtue mean everything; that power and money, money and power mean nothing; that good always triumphs over evil; and I want you to remember this, that love... true love never dies. You remember that, boy. You remember that. Doesn't matter if it's true or not. You see, a man should believe in those things, because those are the things worth believing in."
--Hub to Walter.

[CrimsonAngel]

What about the adults that hate children?

And the children who hate children?

[Frozen_Feet]

In other words: the way people use the word "adult" here is just a shorthand for "responsible, rational person" or some such. However, being a responsible, rational person has zilch to do with age. Some people never become either rational or responsible, while some are that from the start.

Personally, I view legal definition of maturity along these lines: you have 18 years long probation; any mistakes you do during that period are forgiven because, hey, we can't exactly wait you to know anything beforehand, right? So we'll give you an excuse for your stupidity and look it through our fingers for a while, that's just fair play.

After you turn 18, that excuse is gone. If you still don't know anything and your stupidity still persists, well, it's your own damn fault! :smalltongue:

[CrimsonAngel]

There is no true metamorphisis.


Oh god. I just thought about people going through a crisalis state. "Hey Chris, where's Ethan today?" "I heard he's in his crisalis already."

[Krade]

I always thought the first sign of becoming an adult is when you are genuinely happy about getting new socks.

[golentan]

An adult is someone who can take responsibility for their actions, recognize when they make a mistake, and take steps to fix it.

Basically, someone who doesn't try to pass the buck on their own life or its effects on others.

[Starbuck_II]

An adult is someone who can take responsibility for their actions, recognize when they make a mistake, and take steps to fix it.

Basically, someone who doesn't try to pass the buck on their own life or its effects on others.

That means there are very few adults in charge of countries.

[Dr.Epic]

You become an adult when you realize that, yes, one day, you will die. It's not a fun thing to be.

A live body and a dead body contain the same number of particles. Structurally, there's no discernible difference. Life and death are unquantifiable abstracts.

[Project_Mayhem]

Being an adult is when you finally realize you can't really describe yourself as young any more, and your burdened down with responsibility and so called *real life*.

I will fight you real life. Do you hear me sir? I shall fight you!

[kyoryu]

Someone who can reign in the impulses of the moment, and do what needs to be done.

What I came in to say.

That, and someone who accepts what *is*, instead of whining that it's not what they *want it to be*.

[Tirian]

That could have described me starting around age 14. :smallyuk:

Adulthood isn't a light switch that turns on, it's a continuum. I think it's mostly about appreciating that you need to do some things even if they aren't necessarily fun.

Parts of it start when you're very young. My nine year-old nephew (mostly) knows that if he eats candy all night that he'll have a stomach ache in the morning that is more unpleasant than the pleasure of eating the candy. That's a step forward. I know some adults who spend money on enough alcohol that they can't even clearly remember what happened the next morning, and they have yet to learn my nephew's lesson.

I'm not sure when it ends, or even if it ends. I felt like more of an adult when I signed my first lease and even more of an adult when I signed my mortgage. Those are taking serious responsibilities and making obligations that you then have to live up to. And if you can't, then you have to figure out how you can, because you can't just load a previous "save game", you know?

Another bump after that came when I started my retirement account. That was like, how shall I say it? I'm taking money out of my pocket now and giving it to me forty years from now, because even though there are things I can buy now I know that that future-me can use the money more than I can. I was thinking about what the world and my place in it would be like forty years in the future, and I wasn't even thirty years old at the time. I don't mind telling you that that's bit of a mind rush.

[arguskos]

I always thought the first sign of becoming an adult is when you are genuinely happy about getting new socks.
No, that's when you know you're old. Same as when the opening of a new, amazingly massive, grocery store provokes not confusion but glee. :smallsigh:

[Asta Kask]

When you no longer feel the urge to jump when your parents say "JUMP!" in that special, parental tone of voice.

[Tirian]

When you no longer feel the urge to jump when your parents say "JUMP!" in that special, parental tone of voice.

Heh. I still jump when a mother at a mall or something like that barks out the name of her child when it coincidentally happens to be the same as my name, even though I could well be older than the mother and I wasn't misbehaving at all. :smallsmile:

[Faceist]

Seriously, I always used to condier becoming an Adult at the age of 18 (When you are legally considered an Adult here in the UK) but now I am 19 it feels weird that I am classed as an Adult. I think that when I have finished University and have a Job I will think of myself as a full adult. At the moment I'm in that transitional phase between teenage-ness and adulthood.I disagree! I think that when you finish university and get a job, you'll be thinking, "Wow, I feel the same as I did when I was nineteen!" You'll think the same thing when you get a house, and when (or if, I guess?) you get married and have kids. In fact, you'll probably go on thinking that until you're forty, at which point you'll be like "...huh!" :smalltongue:

There's no real dividing line between child/adult or immaturity/maturity, whether you consider it to be marked either in age or in arbitrary goals. Ultimately 'adult' is just a catch-all term for people who are older than eighteen, and has no tangible value save for that which we imbue it. And since adulthood signifies something different to each of us, we're all going to think "woo, grown up!" at different points. I don't think I'll ever grow up, personally. I think I'll go on being an immature, effusive little tit until the day I die. :smallbiggrin:

[Heliomance]

Being an adult is when you finally realize you can't really describe yourself as young any more, and your burdened down with responsibility and so called *real life*.

I will fight you real life. Do you hear me sir? I shall fight you!

Go to hell, Real Life, I'll punch you in the face! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMrN3Rh55uM)

[Starbuck_II]

According to a video: you must prove you are Adult by shouting, " I am a Man!," and punching something close to you in the gut.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0qcXjMQyWk

[Zevox]

Adults also don't bring up they're adults because it doesn't matter.

"Critics who treat adult as a term of approval, instead of as a merely descriptive term, cannot be adults themselves. To be concerned about being grown up, to admire the grown up because it is grown up, to blush at the suspicion of being childish; these things are the marks of childhood and adolescence.... When I was ten, I read fairy tales in secret and would have been ashamed if I had been found doing so. Now that I am fifty, I read them openly. When I became a man, I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up." -C S Lewis.

I'd say you're an adult when you identify with other people you consider to be adults. As a child, you naturally assume a role on which adults are regarded as having a natural authority and having a complete understanding of the world. As a child, you may socialize with adults, but they are a distinctly different group than your friends, who are also children.
As an adult, the authority and knowledge of other adults can be challenged. They may be in control and may have a better understanding, but you chose to follow their advice because you share their assesment and not because you believe them to be right by default. As a result, you can start to make adult friends. And while you may still have non-adults you socialize with, you have an understanding that they regard you as an adult and not a child.

My definition of adult is "someone who stops worrying about growing up and starts to wish he was younger". :smalltongue:
I'd go with something along the lines of these responses myself. Plus of course the legal definition of age 18.


I always thought the first sign of becoming an adult is when you are genuinely happy about getting new socks.
By that definition I doubt I'll ever be an adult myself :smalltongue: .

Zevox

[Project_Mayhem]

Go to hell, Real Life, I'll punch you in the face! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMrN3Rh55uM)

Epic Win!dfhdfgh

[Lord Raziere]

Everyone keeps going on about living up to some higher ideal or being an example, or something like that. Why be that way? Being yourself is more true, and your happier to. If you like being a child, be a child, you like being an adult, be an adult, whatever makes you happy is what you should aim for, and being happy is just being yourself, cause you can't be happy being anything else.

Why be so concerned about being adult? Just be free, be balanced, be yourself.
:smallcool:

[Drakevarg]

When your body stops growing and starts falling apart.

Unfortunately, you'll probably be well into the decline before you notice anything's changed.


A live body and a dead body contain the same number of particles. Structurally, there's no discernible difference. Life and death are unquantifiable abstracts.

I don't know the source so it may be total horse****, but I've heard differently. Evidently there's a measureable drop in mass at the moment of death. The exact cause of said loss is unknown.

If it's true, suck it, Dr. Manhattan.

[Starbuck_II]

When your body stops growing and starts falling apart.

Unfortunately, you'll probably be well into the decline before you notice anything's changed.

You stop growing around age 27 (before you can grow a little here or there in size).

Why do you use growth?

[Fiery Diamond]

{scrubbed}

[Lord Raziere]

{scrubbed the original, scrub the quote}

{scrubbed}

[Dr.Epic]

You become an adult when you realize that, yes, one day, you will die. It's not a fun thing to be.

And how do you define this? We all know subconsciously we will die. Do we have to think about it constantly? Is the depressed man who fears death an adult even though he's too scared and frightened? What about the warrior who expects death and takes others' lives?

[Drakevarg]

You stop growing around age 27 (before you can grow a little here or there in size).

Why do you use growth?

Because to me, the concept of "child" means someone growing. It's the incomplete portion of life. When you stop growing, you are biologically complete and are thus an "adult." Then you start decaying, so there's that.

Also because I think the societal distinction between child and adult is wholly irrelevent. The legal distinction is also largely borked, since the driving age and age of consent is earlier, and you can't consume alchohol until later. :smallsigh:

[Fiery Diamond]

{scrubbed the original, scrub the quote}

:smalleek: Yeesh! I'm sorry. That was a joke. The attitude of "just live your life to be happy" was pretty much the philosophy of the hippies, they just took it a little...far. {scrubbed}
I apologize.


Because to me, the concept of "child" means someone growing. It's the incomplete portion of life. When you stop growing, you are biologically complete and are thus an "adult." Then you start decaying, so there's that.

Also because I think the societal distinction between child and adult is wholly irrelevent. The legal distinction is also largely borked, since the driving age and age of consent is earlier, and you can't consume alchohol until later. :smallsigh:

Actually, the age of consent varies depending on where you are. There are many places where the age of consent is 18, not 16 or 17.

But it's still pretty borked. Driving=16, Cigarettes=18, Alcohol=21 in the US.

[Quincunx]

Well, excuse us for hedonism. Sheesh.


When your body stops growing and starts falling apart.

Unfortunately, you'll probably be well into the decline before you notice anything's changed.



I don't know the source so it may be total horse****, but I've heard differently. Evidently there's a measureable drop in mass at the moment of death. The exact cause of said loss is unknown.

If it's true, suck it, Dr. Manhattan.

That study was refuted. If I recall correctly I received the debunk news via cracked.com, which is no source in itself, but the self-correcting comments didn't refute the refutation. Good idea for a study. Bad methodology. Extremely bad willingness to massage the data to make a point.

[Drakevarg]

That study was refuted. If I recall correctly I received the debunk news via cracked.com, which is no source in itself, but the self-correcting comments didn't refute the refutation. Good idea for a study. Bad methodology. Extremely bad willingness to massage the data to make a point.

Pity. Another interesting idea mucked up because people thought it was too cool to be wrong. :smallsigh:

[Lord Raziere]

:smalleek: Yeesh! I'm sorry. That was a joke. The attitude of "just live your life to be happy" was pretty much the philosophy of the hippies, they just took it a little...far. I didn't mean to seriously imply that you were a druggie or sex-focused. I didn't realize that my comment would be taken seriously.

I apologize.


oh no, I should apologize, these boards are not as serious as I am about stuff so...yeah...apology accepted anyways.

[Dada]

My definition of adult is "someone who stops worrying about growing up and starts to wish he was younger". :smalltongue:

Yeah, this. I usually say that you have grown up when you wish your next birthday would subtract a year instead of adding one.

[The Big Dice]

You're an adult when you realise that nobody will stop you when you do all those things your parents wouldn't let you do when you were a child.

[Tirian]

You're an adult when you realise that nobody will stop you when you do all those things your parents wouldn't let you do when you were a child.

I'd phrase it differently. You go from being a child to being an adolescent when you realize that nobody can practically stop you from doing things that aren't in your best interest. You become an adult when you realize that it is therefore up to you to stop yourself.

[Kobold-Bard]

You're only and adult once you have taken the Adult Exam. You never know when you are going to take the exam; it could be at any time - a man in a grey coat will one day walk up to you and hand you the exam to fill in. Once done, if you pass you are an adult.

Seriously, I always used to condier becoming an Adult at the age of 18 (When you are legally considered an Adult here in the UK) but now I am 19 it feels weird that I am classed as an Adult. I think that when I have finished University and have a Job I will think of myself as a full adult. At the moment I'm in that transitional phase between teenage-ness and adulthood.

OHMIGOD!! YOUR AVATAR IS AMAZING!!!

Ignoring the above statement (and anything I do on this site) I officially consider myself an adult for the first time. I am 22 and have a definite goal in life for the first time ever, specifically one that will allow me to give a good life to my girlfriend (future wife) and future children, who I consider to be a fact rather than a vague, hypothetical description.

I also put aside procrastination to actually do that which needs to be done in order for me to get a good grade out of uni, something I've never been able to do before.

So I am an adult because I accept responsibility for my own future, rather than just hoping everything will work itself out.

[LordOMud]

I've always thought an adult was someone who would work for what they want instead of asking for it

[The Big Dice]

I'd phrase it differently. You go from being a child to being an adolescent when you realize that nobody can practically stop you from doing things that aren't in your best interest. You become an adult when you realize that it is therefore up to you to stop yourself.

That's the logic behind why a friend of mine gave up roleplaying. Because roleplaying is, and I quote "Something teenagers do, not adults."

[WarKitty]

Adulthood isn't a light switch that turns on, it's a continuum. I think it's mostly about appreciating that you need to do some things even if they aren't necessarily fun.

Parts of it start when you're very young. My nine year-old nephew (mostly) knows that if he eats candy all night that he'll have a stomach ache in the morning that is more unpleasant than the pleasure of eating the candy. That's a step forward. I know some adults who spend money on enough alcohol that they can't even clearly remember what happened the next morning, and they have yet to learn my nephew's lesson.

I'm not sure when it ends, or even if it ends. I felt like more of an adult when I signed my first lease and even more of an adult when I signed my mortgage. Those are taking serious responsibilities and making obligations that you then have to live up to. And if you can't, then you have to figure out how you can, because you can't just load a previous "save game", you know?

Another bump after that came when I started my retirement account. That was like, how shall I say it? I'm taking money out of my pocket now and giving it to me forty years from now, because even though there are things I can buy now I know that that future-me can use the money more than I can. I was thinking about what the world and my place in it would be like forty years in the future, and I wasn't even thirty years old at the time. I don't mind telling you that that's bit of a mind rush.

This. The legal definitions are merely when you're supposed to have reached maturity.


I disagree! I think that when you finish university and get a job, you'll be thinking, "Wow, I feel the same as I did when I was nineteen!" You'll think the same thing when you get a house, and when (or if, I guess?) you get married and have kids. In fact, you'll probably go on thinking that until you're forty, at which point you'll be like "...huh!" :smalltongue:

There's no real dividing line between child/adult or immaturity/maturity, whether you consider it to be marked either in age or in arbitrary goals. Ultimately 'adult' is just a catch-all term for people who are older than eighteen, and has no tangible value save for that which we imbue it. And since adulthood signifies something different to each of us, we're all going to think "woo, grown up!" at different points. I don't think I'll ever grow up, personally. I think I'll go on being an immature, effusive little tit until the day I die. :smallbiggrin:

Adult: what you will never be to your parents, no matter how old you get. :smallbiggrin:


That's the logic behind why a friend of mine gave up roleplaying. Because roleplaying is, and I quote "Something teenagers do, not adults."

:smallsigh:


Oddly enough, for me the idea of adulthood also carries the sense of a loss of innocence. It's when you grow out of the fairy tale where mommy and daddy can fix anything and everything has a happy ending. It's when you realize, sometimes bad things happen, life is unfair, people will be mean and cruel. And its not going to get any better for you sitting back watching TV and eating popcorn. And you go out and live and look for what's good and try to make things better where you can.

[Faceist]

Adult: what you will never be to your parents, no matter how old you get. :smallbiggrin:
I'm still my dads little guy, even now I'm three inches taller than him. :smalltongue:

[Ponderthought]

And how do you define this? We all know subconsciously we will die. Do we have to think about it constantly? Is the depressed man who fears death an adult even though he's too scared and frightened? What about the warrior who expects death and takes others' lives?

Yes for both cases. Perhaps not great human beings, but adult ones none the less.

And no, it doesn't have to be constant, just a consciously acknowledged fact.

[SDF]

It's a label. This topic clearly demonstrates that the definition varies from person to person. It is much more a state of mind than a state of being.

[absolmorph]

My definition of adult is "someone who stops worrying about growing up and starts to wish he was younger". :smalltongue:
What if you want neither?

[Dada]

Then you're a teenager/adolescent :smalltongue:

[Maximum Zersk]

And thus, as this thread proves, the definition of an adult is as hard to pinpoint as the definition of a hipster. :smalltongue:

[Ichneumon]

"HA! I'm more adult than any of you will ever be!"

Adulthood means that you don't think stuff like the above.

[absolmorph]

"HA! I'm more adult than any of you will ever be!"

Adulthood means that you don't think stuff like the above.
I'm a thousand times as mature as you are!
:smalltongue:

[Amiel]

"HA! I'm more adult than any of you will ever be!"

Adulthood means that you don't think stuff like the above.

Indeed; it's where one's emotional maturity intersects with one's physical maturity.

[Azuyomi244]

When you decide you no longer want to be an adult, just stay a child forever :smallbiggrin:

[Asta Kask]

When you start complaining about them darn youngsters these days.

[Terumitsu]

A live body and a dead body contain the same number of particles. Structurally, there's no discernible difference. Life and death are unquantifiable abstracts.

I will have to propose a counter argument if not just a simple addendum. The body of a live person and that of one deceased have magnitudes of difference. For one, the live person is in constant motion, converting food into chemical energy and firing elecrical signals everywhich way for starters. Not to mention that, on record, we do not have any documents of a dead person who thinks. That bit about thinking is rather importaint and is indeed structurally different between the two states due to the constant chemistry that takes place to facilitate the conjuration of ideas.

But that is all I feel needs to be said in the matter as I believe my point is made.

In any case, I mark the time that one becomes an adult when they realise they can sit back for a moment and find they have this absolutely amazing organ within the confines of their skull that allows them to not just run their body, but to think. To think wide and deep about anything they so choose. To consider and to ponder and to wonder and brainstorm and create with their mind individual ideas that are truly products of their own thinking rather than simply following that which they are told.

Sadly, there are those who do follow their entire lives. I am of the opinion that the more one can do to encourage thought, the more true adults (or at least my definition of adults) will exist and be able to submit intellegent input into the forum that is the human collective society.

Come to think of it.. That definition says a lot about me...

[cho_j]

Interesting question. I'd say: different for everybody. Personally I try not to care about whether I'm an adult yet or not, because, man, I'm more interested in whether I'm other things. Am I a real writer? Am I a good person? There are so many other poorly defined social concepts that require my immediate attention! :smallwink:

[Noircat]

A good sign is when you start relating to people 10+ years older than you more than people younger than you.

[Amiel]

When you start complaining about them darn youngsters these days.

And you start reminiscing about the "good old days"; for example, when you had to walk 40 km in blizzard-like conditions to get to school while carrying a 50 lb bag full of books and coal.


Quotes about growing up
"Growing old is inevitable, growing up is optional" - Chili Davis
"Inside every older person is a younger person wondering what happened" - Jennifer Yane
"To know how to grow old is the master work of wisdom, and one of most difficult chapters in the great art of living" - Henri Federic Amiel
"You know you've grown up when you stop wishing you were older. You know you've gotten old when you start wishing you were younger" - Bill Mech

[Heliomance]

A good sign is when you start relating to people 10+ years older than you more than people younger than you.

Been doing that since primary school :P

[Xefas]

Adult
n.
-a person who is fully grown or developed or of age
-a person who has attained the age of maturity as specified by law

Everything else is a logical fallacy of the No True Scotsman (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_true_scottsman) variety.

[Trog]

"Another belief of mine; that everyone else my age is an adult, whereas I am merely in disguise." - Margaret Atwood

"The creative adult is the child who has survived." - Ursula K. Le Guin

"To be adult is to be alone." - Jean Rostand

[dgnslyr]

What is a man? A miserable little pile of secrets!

On topic, an adult is someone who is both at the legal age to have all his or her rights; 18 or 21 or whatever depending on your country, and mature enough to take care of himself, like having a job and paying bills and whatnot.

I fit neither, though, so I shouldn't be one to talk...

[Dr.Epic]

Yes for both cases. Perhaps not great human beings, but adult ones none the less.

And no, it doesn't have to be constant, just a consciously acknowledged fact.

That...doesn't...make...sense. A depressed man that thinks of nothing but death and a axe crazy warrior who doesn't hesitate to take a life count as adults, but a grown man/woman with a career and family that focus enough on both but doesn't realize this isn't an adult? Would having responsibilities make one an adult and not just know you will die?


I will have to propose a counter argument if not just a simple addendum. The body of a live person and that of one deceased have magnitudes of difference. For one, the live person is in constant motion, converting food into chemical energy and firing elecrical signals everywhich way for starters. Not to mention that, on record, we do not have any documents of a dead person who thinks. That bit about thinking is rather importaint and is indeed structurally different between the two states due to the constant chemistry that takes place to facilitate the conjuration of ideas.

But that is all I feel needs to be said in the matter as I believe my point is made.

In any case, I mark the time that one becomes an adult when they realise they can sit back for a moment and find they have this absolutely amazing organ within the confines of their skull that allows them to not just run their body, but to think. To think wide and deep about anything they so choose. To consider and to ponder and to wonder and brainstorm and create with their mind individual ideas that are truly products of their own thinking rather than simply following that which they are told.

Sadly, there are those who do follow their entire lives. I am of the opinion that the more one can do to encourage thought, the more true adults (or at least my definition of adults) will exist and be able to submit intellegent input into the forum that is the human collective society.

Come to think of it.. That definition says a lot about me...

Don't try to bring logic into my comic book reference.

[Samm]

Adult
n.
-a person who is fully grown or developed or of age
-a person who has attained the age of maturity as specified by law

Everything else is a logical fallacy of the No True Scotsman (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_true_scottsman) variety.

I disagree. We are trying to define the concept of the adult here. The No True Scotsman fallacy only applies where people are trying to make generalisations about a group of things, and then try to redefine that group. We are trying to define a group of things, instead of making generalisations about it.

[AtlanteanTroll]

Not needing to ask this question to know the answer?

[Kastanok]

Don't believe I've ever met or heard of one. But then I'm not sure everyone is a child... so, I think I'll have to go with:

We're all just folk.

[DrWeird]

One thing I have a partial disagreement with are the statements in this thread which involve a realization of (responsibility, death, real life, etc) as these seem to be more the strenuous realizations of teenage years. Admittedly, this is a stage towards the philosophical and metaphysical maturity of the average homo sapien, but I categorize it separately from a total completion of adulthood. Moreso, it is when you stop simply realizing these things and begin to accept them that the stage of adulthood becomes a possible reality. From there, it varies from person to person - it could be taking a full assessment of one's own responsibility and managing self-reliance, or a slow determination of the settling into a mature pattern. In any case, as for all situations, it relies on subtle variations for the person; the only absolute in every case is that it takes about twenty years for the person to look back and realize they grew up.

[JonestheSpy]

An adult is anyone 18 and over (in the U.S.). A grown up, on the other hand, is a whole different matter.

Don't know if I'm one yet, but I've been faking it since I became a parent.

[Cleverdan22]

Legally, an adult in the US is anyone 18 or over.

I can tell that I sure don't feel like one, and I'm pretty sure I won't consider myself an adult until I'm like...25.

OhgodsI'mgonnabesuchamanchilditwillberidiculous.