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Adult
Monday, May 7th, 2007 by Admiral_CoeymanWhat does it mean to be an adult? As a hobby editor, I am familiar with the use of the term ‘adult’ as a reference to sexually explicit material. Incidentally, it is the kind of material that has been of little interest to me since I reached another definition of adult, the ‘age of majority.’ There is another definition of adult which implies intellectual maturity. Some day, I do hope to reach that milestone.
Which definition is the more real? Law has no way of measuring intellectual maturity. In law, you are an adult when you reach a measurable milestone. That milestone is an age at which you are recognized as being responsible for your own actions. Living in this reality for a set number of consecutive years does not tell you much about who you are.
The pornography definition of adult will be left out of the stand up philosophy for today, along with any other definitions of adult that had not yet been brought to my attention. This would be the definition that is most at odds with the two remaining definitions. I would be a poor stand up philosopher if I could not get an entire editorial from this definition; however, it would be a distraction if I was to include it here. Are you distracted enough yet?
It should be of little surprise to you that I will go with the definition of adult that includes a measurement of intellectual development. You should know that much about me just because I am writing this. I would define being an adult as being mature, which is not the same thing as being old. Mature, as I am using it, implies that you have the ability with logic and understanding to reason for yourself. This definition does not imply that you ever have to agree with anything that I write.
Have I answered the question? You do not need me to tell you when you are an adult. Maybe the best definition of ‘adult’ would be somebody who has grown up. By that definition, there are very few adults in the world.
