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You're assuming a proper amount of intelligence/decisiveness at ~18 years old. I was a fucking airhead at 18 (11 years ago) and, like most kids, listened to my

by rglover 10y ago

You're assuming a proper amount of intelligence/decisiveness at ~18 years old. I was a fucking airhead at 18 (11 years ago) and, like most kids, listened to my parents as I thought they knew best. They were not financially intelligent and as a result, put me on a precarious path with the best intentions of me having what they understood as a better future. I also chose a path back then (working in television) that has nothing to do with what I ultimately developed an interest in (software design/dev) later into college (when changing majors would have racked up even more debt).

douche 10y ago
It's sort of sad how much we have infantilized ourselves in this generation. We're almost to the point where somebody who is turning 30 is less mature and capable than someone 100 years ago was at sixteen.
- tangent128 10y ago
  100 years ago, manual labor was still a dominant slice of the economy; a sixteen-year-old who uncritically followed the advice of their parents would probably not be screwing over their career. And if they could attend college 100 years ago, it was worth the investment.
  - douche 10y ago
    I still find it disappointing how dysfunctional we expect people to be these days. My grandfather had four children at my age, and had fought kamikaze pilots off Okinawa.
    - burfog 10y ago
      At age 9, Abraham Lincoln's father left for half a year. Abraham had to take care of his sister, hunt for food with a rifle, and chop wood to stay warm. This was in a 1-room house with no running water, no electricity, a dirt floor, and no privacy. He turned out OK with that parenting, even elected president. Modern social services would have put him in a foster home.
dragonwriter 10y ago
> You're assuming a proper amount of intelligence/decisiveness at ~18 years old. 18 year olds don't lack intelligence, they (in general) lack impulse control and the practical ability to effectively weigh consequences of concrete decisions (evaluating them in the abstract is not a problem.) This ability generally isn't fully fenced until the mid-20s.

by rglover 10y ago

douche 10y ago

It's sort of sad how much we have infantilized ourselves in this generation. We're almost to the point where somebody who is turning 30 is less mature and capable than someone 100 years ago was at sixteen.

tangent128 10y ago
100 years ago, manual labor was still a dominant slice of the economy; a sixteen-year-old who uncritically followed the advice of their parents would probably not be screwing over their career. And if they could attend college 100 years ago, it was worth the investment.
- douche 10y ago
  I still find it disappointing how dysfunctional we expect people to be these days. My grandfather had four children at my age, and had fought kamikaze pilots off Okinawa.
  - burfog 10y ago
    At age 9, Abraham Lincoln's father left for half a year. Abraham had to take care of his sister, hunt for food with a rifle, and chop wood to stay warm. This was in a 1-room house with no running water, no electricity, a dirt floor, and no privacy. He turned out OK with that parenting, even elected president. Modern social services would have put him in a foster home.

dragonwriter 10y ago

> You're assuming a proper amount of intelligence/decisiveness at ~18 years old. 18 year olds don't lack intelligence, they (in general) lack impulse control and the practical ability to effectively weigh consequences of concrete decisions (evaluating them in the abstract is not a problem.) This ability generally isn't fully fenced until the mid-20s.