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The article goes on to answer that two paragraphs later: "You may wonder why, if adolescents have such enhanced capacity for anxiety, they are such novelty see

The article goes on to answer that two paragraphs later: "You may wonder why, if adolescents have such enhanced capacity for anxiety, they are such novelty seekers and risk takers. It would seem that the two traits are at odds. The answer, in part, is that the brain’s reward center, just like its fear circuit, matures earlier than the prefrontal cortex. That reward center drives much of teenagers’ risky behavior. This behavioral paradox also helps explain why adolescents are particularly prone to injury and trauma. The top three killers of teenagers are accidents, homicide and suicide."

apsec112 12y ago
That both violates Occam's razor - you need to postulate two mechanisms instead of one, with no evidence presented - and common sense. On the battlefield, the brain's "reward center" (whatever that means) certainly isn't being activated. Yet the army doesn't refuse to recruit 20-year-olds because they'll inevitably be paralyzed with terror when the guns start firing. Indeed, 20-year-old men are the first people that every army wants to recruit, in all cultures and all time periods.
- philtar 12y ago
  It may not be activated on the battlefield but it's certainly activated as you sign up for the battlefield. Back then it was to be called brave, death wasn't as scary as it is now. Now, we all want to lead long lives and so the things that scare us now are different from what scared them earlier.
- Swizec 12y ago
  Because they are physically in good shape, healthy, and easily manipulatable. Glory of battle. Glory of startups. Glory of anything. Give me a 20 year old male and some cultural pressure, and I will make you a blind follower of anything.
  - brc 12y ago
    And have few, if any, life achievements to 'lose'. Be it career, wealth, family - whatever.
- tlb 12y ago
  Occam's razor is a good heuristic for choosing physical laws, but not for human behavior. It's very common for behavior to be driven by two opposing instincts.
- saraid216 12y ago
  > Yet the army doesn't refuse to recruit 20-year-olds because they'll inevitably be paralyzed with terror when the guns start firing. Indeed, 20-year-old men are the first people that every army wants to recruit, in all cultures and all time periods. That's what basic training is for. That, and developing unit cohesion. Everyone gets paralyzed by terror when the guns start firing. You work through that with desensitization. Part of the training is being shot at by blanks. Young people are recruited because of the items Swizec listed, not because of some magic brain wiring they have at that age. If you don't work through it, you get dead. Which is roughly how firefights between untrained gang members shape up. They freeze up and get shot. Bystanders freeze up and take a stray bullet. As simple as that. That's the fundamental difference between a trained and untrained gunman.

apsec112 12y ago

That both violates Occam's razor - you need to postulate two mechanisms instead of one, with no evidence presented - and common sense. On the battlefield, the brain's "reward center" (whatever that means) certainly isn't being activated. Yet the army doesn't refuse to recruit 20-year-olds because they'll inevitably be paralyzed with terror when the guns start firing. Indeed, 20-year-old men are the first people that every army wants to recruit, in all cultures and all time periods.

philtar 12y ago
It may not be activated on the battlefield but it's certainly activated as you sign up for the battlefield. Back then it was to be called brave, death wasn't as scary as it is now. Now, we all want to lead long lives and so the things that scare us now are different from what scared them earlier.
Swizec 12y ago
Because they are physically in good shape, healthy, and easily manipulatable. Glory of battle. Glory of startups. Glory of anything. Give me a 20 year old male and some cultural pressure, and I will make you a blind follower of anything.
- brc 12y ago
  And have few, if any, life achievements to 'lose'. Be it career, wealth, family - whatever.
tlb 12y ago
Occam's razor is a good heuristic for choosing physical laws, but not for human behavior. It's very common for behavior to be driven by two opposing instincts.
saraid216 12y ago
> Yet the army doesn't refuse to recruit 20-year-olds because they'll inevitably be paralyzed with terror when the guns start firing. Indeed, 20-year-old men are the first people that every army wants to recruit, in all cultures and all time periods. That's what basic training is for. That, and developing unit cohesion. Everyone gets paralyzed by terror when the guns start firing. You work through that with desensitization. Part of the training is being shot at by blanks. Young people are recruited because of the items Swizec listed, not because of some magic brain wiring they have at that age. If you don't work through it, you get dead. Which is roughly how firefights between untrained gang members shape up. They freeze up and get shot. Bystanders freeze up and take a stray bullet. As simple as that. That's the fundamental difference between a trained and untrained gunman.