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What kind of consequences are people in their 20s too young to understand? In democracies we generally assume those 21+ can understand all the issues, which is

What kind of consequences are people in their 20s too young to understand? In democracies we generally assume those 21+ can understand all the issues, which is why we let them vote. This seems sorta like not letting 80 year olds have email because they don't understand it and might get scammed.

hinkley 4y ago
Career choice. Elective surgeries. You’re here talking to a group largely composed of people who won the career lottery. Did all of your college friends fare so well? How about high school? Hell in middle school and high school I had people trying to talk me out of software as a career because we were on one of the three AI hype cycles I’ve personally lived through. It’s the rare, inspirational person who says Fuck It, I’m Starting Over in their thirties or even later. Many of the losers just live lives of quiet desperation. Those are the people I was thinking about above.
bombolo 4y ago
You're either 20 or haven't met a 20 year old in a looooong time.
- concordDance 4y ago
  Mid 30s but do have one acquaintance who's 20. It's possible I have a biased sample, but I have honestly not noticed a big difference in decision making between 20 year olds and 40 year olds.
  - hinkley 4y ago
    You probably do. My mentees are all very biased. I pick the ones who have a good head on their shoulders. We all had that friend who was an “old soul”. I spent a lot of my teens socializing with 30 year olds (bike club) so I’m probably seeing myself in these junior developers. But not a year has gone by but I wish I had a time machine, not just for myself but for a friend who had big dreams when we were 16-26 and never found their way. Of the dozen smartest kids in our high school, one became a doctor (but married to the slacker in the group), one a lawyer, one a salty cynical programmer. I found one managing a movie theater a year after dropping out. One I imprinted on in college, because I thought she was so world-wise and knew what she wanted to be, ended up becoming a stay at home mom, never really had the writing career she hoped for. Student loans were part of that dynamic, which is another decision we put on children (see also John Mullaney).

hinkley 4y ago

Career choice. Elective surgeries. You’re here talking to a group largely composed of people who won the career lottery. Did all of your college friends fare so well? How about high school? Hell in middle school and high school I had people trying to talk me out of software as a career because we were on one of the three AI hype cycles I’ve personally lived through. It’s the rare, inspirational person who says Fuck It, I’m Starting Over in their thirties or even later. Many of the losers just live lives of quiet desperation. Those are the people I was thinking about above.

bombolo 4y ago

You're either 20 or haven't met a 20 year old in a looooong time.

concordDance 4y ago
Mid 30s but do have one acquaintance who's 20. It's possible I have a biased sample, but I have honestly not noticed a big difference in decision making between 20 year olds and 40 year olds.
- hinkley 4y ago
  You probably do. My mentees are all very biased. I pick the ones who have a good head on their shoulders. We all had that friend who was an “old soul”. I spent a lot of my teens socializing with 30 year olds (bike club) so I’m probably seeing myself in these junior developers. But not a year has gone by but I wish I had a time machine, not just for myself but for a friend who had big dreams when we were 16-26 and never found their way. Of the dozen smartest kids in our high school, one became a doctor (but married to the slacker in the group), one a lawyer, one a salty cynical programmer. I found one managing a movie theater a year after dropping out. One I imprinted on in college, because I thought she was so world-wise and knew what she wanted to be, ended up becoming a stay at home mom, never really had the writing career she hoped for. Student loans were part of that dynamic, which is another decision we put on children (see also John Mullaney).