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Description
Made this one a while back and forgot to post it. It was a response to something I've reflected on for a long time; namely, how so often people seem to mention maturity is if it were about the minimum age something is "suitable for" (inasmuch as we use phrases like "adult humor" to refer to jokes about sex, violence, profanity, and so on) but then go around using these "mature" things in the most immature of ways.

What really defines maturity, at least in any positive sense, is a greater growth of traits like reason, self-control, and understanding. I think of how in the science fiction novel Perelandra by C.S. Lewis, an alien counterpart to Eve speaks of being "older" when referring to points where she has gained some new insight or wisdom, and to her "younger" past synonymously with things like "uninformed" or "more naïve." This, for me, is a much more consistent understanding of maturity with how we use "mature" in other conversation, wherein it is almost antithetical to the "mature" of "mature themes" or "mature humor," and so on.

Indeed, the common use of words like "adult" and "mature" in settings like language, humor, and so on - in short, media content - is so base that to call it juvenile is an insult to infants. Better to call it bestial. We say "adult language" when what we mean is spitting like cobras and throwing dung like monkeys. We say "adult humor" when we really mean spraying feces like hippos or fornicating like goats. Is it any wonder that adulthood is losing its respectability?

I say it's long overdue that we return to when debating meant articulating our views, not ripping people apart (perhaps literally). When public discussion meant
comparing views, not demonizing people. Let's made maturity great again, shall we?

Description
Made this one a while back and forgot to post it. It was a response to something I've reflected on for a long time; namely, how so often people seem to mention maturity is if it were about the minimum age something is "suitable for" (inasmuch as we use phrases like "adult humor" to refer to jokes about sex, violence, profanity, and so on) but then go around using these "mature" things in the most immature of ways.

What really defines maturity, at least in any positive sense, is a greater growth of traits like reason, self-control, and understanding. I think of how in the science fiction novel Perelandra by C.S. Lewis, an alien counterpart to Eve speaks of being "older" when referring to points where she has gained some new insight or wisdom, and to her "younger" past synonymously with things like "uninformed" or "more naïve." This, for me, is a much more consistent understanding of maturity with how we use "mature" in other conversation, wherein it is almost antithetical to the "mature" of "mature themes" or "mature humor," and so on.

Indeed, the common use of words like "adult" and "mature" in settings like language, humor, and so on - in short, media content - is so base that to call it juvenile is an insult to infants. Better to call it bestial. We say "adult language" when what we mean is spitting like cobras and throwing dung like monkeys. We say "adult humor" when we really mean spraying feces like hippos or fornicating like goats. Is it any wonder that adulthood is losing its respectability?

I say it's long overdue that we return to when debating meant articulating our views, not ripping people apart (perhaps literally). When public discussion meant
comparing views, not demonizing people. Let's made maturity great again, shall we?