Maturity

[josue]

i am an high school student and i need to write a first draft essay about growth and maturity. I am doing good but i need more information which is really hard for this topic. My thesis statement is "What are the overall expectations of a mature person" i am going to write about behavior, attitude there occupation or there way of thinking.so could someone help me.

[RobinHood3000]

Cracks about independence/self-help aside, I would probably start by looking up well-accepted texts on human behavior. If a novel is acceptable as a source, I would go with Ishmael by Daniel Quinn, but since its validity as a source is questionable by virtue of classification, I would probably try a good, general text on anything from psychology to sociology. It's a nice broad topic, which may give you more free reign to seek out a specific direction to take--other than that, I'm not sure what else to tell you.

[Stismet]

I actually think that your broad topic may work against you in the end, because it's hard to focus, but here are a few things that you can consider:
The influence of morality-based choices on growth & maturity; tests that are put on beliefs that require one to develop them more thoroughly (since beliefs pave the way into whom a person becomes); and, of course, as you said, the sociological factors that always depend on the circumstances of the growth. You probably ought to delve into some of the more prominent psychologists that talk of that, like Sigmund Freud (a little, just the basics of how certain things influence the shift into "maturity"), Erich Fromm (for societal factor study), Erik Erikson (for the 8 stages of psychosocial development).

Hope that helps a bit.

[Stanislaw]

learned behaviour vs inherited behavior. regional/cultural interpretations.

I would suggest reading the cosmic trilogy by c.s.lewis and the complete Hitch Hikers Guide to the galaxy, breakfast of champions wouldn't hurt neither if ye have "the time" to read it.

interesting topic, but I agree that it is far too broad of a topic.

[mir]

i don't beleive in maturity. or at least, not in it being dependant at all on age. real maturity is taking responsibility for your own actions; listening to, seriously considering, and trying to accept other people's views and opinions; and thinking of how each of your actions and words could affect others. very few people in the world, adults or children - i've actually found more teens than adults - are able to do all of these things, and age has nothing to do with them.

[Stismet]

i don't beleive in maturity. or at least, not in it being dependant at all on age. real maturity is taking responsibility for your own actions; listening to, seriously considering, and trying to accept other people's views and opinions; and thinking of how each of your actions and words could affect others. very few people in the world, adults or children - i've actually found more teens than adults - are able to do all of these things, and age has nothing to do with them.

That's why societal factors are so important. There are some adults who have experienced less of "real life" than children. It's not that rare, but it all depends on the circumstance. Sometimes there are real milestones that push people into maturity. Sometimes it comes from reading about others'. It's a complex matter.

[mir]

i guess . . . i wasn't thinking about maturity as it comes from experience, but more as something that some people are born with - empathy and responsibility - and that others learn from their environment and people around them; i think that the signs of whether or not you're going to be really "mature" appear early, and it's pretty hard to become "mature" if you're not brought up to be so or come into it naturally. you have to have at least some of the right character or upbringing; i don't think you can have some big thing happen to you and suddenly become mature - though it could increase your understanding of what maturity is, true maturity is accepting and working toward the goal of respect and fellowship, not just understanding what it is. i have to learn more about Gandhi - i don't think he got his maturity from a life-changing event, but i also don't know if he got it from his upbringing. i think it was from his religion. and he probably had a lot naturally.

[Stismet]

Well, now we're pulling it into a "Nature versus Nurture" sort of thing (which is very fun to debate), which is something that I've never thought of in accordance with maturity.

So because I believe thoroughly in Nature, I say that maturity comes from experience alone; it's not written in our genes. However, I do grasp your argument, as it makes perfect sense. Logically, some sort of grand turning point shouldn't really make sense, but it is often a turning point on the road to maturity, to responsibility and to ultimate knowledge of what is "right" and what is "good," because to me, that's what maturity is. I believe that you are mature when you know where your lines are drawn, because at that point, it takes a lot to change your mind. If you know exactly what your limits are, then you are responsible for keeping within them. Some people are fine with murder, with rape, some people won't even commit status crimes when they're young. Which is the basis of my argument.

So we agree in that it has nothing to do with age, and that it does involve responsibility, but there are so many different ways to argue how the actual aquiring of maturity happens that it's an incredible topic on which to write anything, be it an essay, theorum, or simple school assignment.

[mir]

yes. but it's fun to debate. : ) then you just get to discuss the ideas, rather than having to write them all down and try to make them all agree; or only show one opinion and prove that, when there's plenty of others that are equally valid. there's one thing i don't understand about your argument, though - are you saying that maturity is setting yourself and following guidelines, or realizing and following the basic guidelines of society and humanity? because if it was only you setting yourself guidelines, you could beleive that murder is right, but fratricide is wrong, or something like that - and then we get into morality, like the whole abortion thing today. and if maturity is based on morality, than each person would have a seperate definition of morality, and no one could really realize another as mature. are we thinking of maturity as other people view it in a person, or as the person views it themself?
also, i think a lot of maturity is just finding your own guidelines, realizing things you shouldn't do, or which would be harmful to others; and identifying things you can decide on a day-to-day basis, depending on the situation.

[Countess]

I'd start with Webster's dictionary to aquire a general definition of the word.

Then I'd also define immaturity in the paper so you have something to compare. What defines immaturity?

[Xamonas Chegwe]

Then I'd also define immaturity in the paper so you have something to compare. What defines immaturity?

I've been told that I do. :confused:

But the people that said that are just stoooopid poopoo heads!! :p :p :p :p :p

[RobinHood3000]

Right, of course, they haven't the faintest idea what they're talking about...

[Stismet]

there's one thing i don't understand about your argument, though - are you saying that maturity is setting yourself and following guidelines, or realizing and following the basic guidelines of society and humanity? because if it was only you setting yourself guidelines, you could beleive that murder is right, but fratricide is wrong, or something like that - and then we get into morality, like the whole abortion thing today. and if maturity is based on morality, than each person would have a seperate definition of morality, and no one could really realize another as mature. are we thinking of maturity as other people view it in a person, or as the person views it themself?
also, i think a lot of maturity is just finding your own guidelines, realizing things you shouldn't do, or which would be harmful to others; and identifying things you can decide on a day-to-day basis, depending on the situation.

I don't believe that maturity is finding and following society's guidelines because no, society's not always right - it's merely what's generally accepted. Yeah, what I meant was that you were mature when you had set your own lines of morality, be them socially unacceptable or not. We can say that morally, they're wrong, but we can't say that they're immature merely because they believe that killing is right. Does that make sense? I may be explaining it oddly.

[mir]

nope, it makes sense. : ) but i didn't really mean the guidelines of SOCIETY - i just meant things that are so ingrained in us as wrong that breaking them would be like breaking ourselves - things like killing without a cause, or physically hurting somebody just becasue it's fun. even if your guidelines encompass things like that, can you still be mature if you do them? after all, half of maturity is how people view you - it's hard to claim maturity if, while you may feel you are it yourself, no one else does.

[Stismet]

The only reason I say that a person can still be mature if they kill, whether other people view it as something immoral, is that human beings are not ingrained with the idea that killing is wrong - for a long time, we killed others of our kind just as any other creature did, right? I think that it's a natural instinct that we've overcome in order to progress in time. Making the decision to do such a thing is, in essence, a mature decision, whether the laws of the country or the morals of another person dictate that it's immoral. Immorality and maturity, I believe, are not hand in hand, just as immorality and legality aren't either. Maturity is something that is achieved by oneself, not something that another person thinks that one is. That doesn't necessarily mean that someone is mature if they think they are, nor does it mean that someone can wake up one morning and decide that they are. I think that it takes a lot of introspection, but it's not something that another person can decide for you.

[mir]

I agree with all of that, but there's one thing. i beleive that a lot, perhaps all, of maturity is the ability to control your own emotions. there are many reasons to kill which may not compromise maturity, but the largest reason for killing, i think, is emotion, and being unable to control it. if a person thinks they can control their own emotions, at least to the extent that they can make themselves stop and think about things before acting on them, they are mature, even if others don't see them as such. but if they DO kill or act on emotion, i don't really think they're mature.

[rachel]

I agree with your words Mir. To me our emotions are like a walled dam, as long as the mighty ocean of water is contained and can be let out a little at a time the water can be very beneficial and a blessing to others. But if it suddenly were to break through the devestation would be catastrophic and deadly.It isn't easy but it is a little like weight training, start with small weights and work up, one press at a time, one day after the other.

[Union Jack]

I think Underworld got it right... "Let your feelings lift boy, But never your mask boy"

[mir]

huh? um . . . sorry, who's "boy"?

and rachel, i definitely agree with you - i don't think i've ever met anyone who was truly mature who didn't really work at stopping to think and control their emotion before they acted. come to that, i don't know if i HAVE ever met anyone who's truly mature . . .

[Union Jack]

The 'boy' refers to anyone. just so happens that he's singing about a boy. But the point is the same, your feelings/ emotions can do whatever you like, as long as you cover them... This is the current socially accpetable form of maturity. I do not put much in it.

[Grongle]

I'm going to be sixty this July, for the very first time in my life.

And I have heard something very good about that: Apparently, if you reach sixty and you still haven't grown up, you don't have to.
:)

[mir]

The 'boy' refers to anyone. just so happens that he's singing about a boy. But the point is the same, your feelings/ emotions can do whatever you like, as long as you cover them... This is the current socially accpetable form of maturity. I do not put much in it.

DEFINITELY. i hate it so much that you always have to have a wall between what you feel and what you can show. there's always a certain amount of time before you're allowed to really open up to somebody, especially somebody you've just met, and it doesn't make any sense. Maturity should be about thinking your emotions through, and then saying them, whatever they might be, and accepting the consequences of that. hiding your feelings away can only ever be hurtful, in the long run.

and Grongle, first, happy early birthday! and second, you never HAVE to grow up. it's much more fun if you don't. :D

so . . just throwing out an idea, what is growing up? is it getting older? being mature? getting a job or finding a place in society? *sigh* i think i'm going to go watch peter pan.

[RobinHood3000]

Such is the difference between the personality and the persona.

[Chava]

Lalala, I'm getting so old... tralalala... i love water puddles, and wellingtons, and bows and arrows, and climbing trees, and skiping really high with my friends in the middle of Copenhagen, and just being who the little person in my head tells me to be...shh... i'm being Jolly

[RobinHood3000]

Somebody say "bows and arrows?"

[Chava]

Yes I did, it was a great passion of mine, and still is, but unfortunately the nearest range is too far away for my weekly attendance... Accesibility can be such a hindrance.