Will the Real Adults Please Stand Up

by mtippett | June 26, 2006 at 12:25 pm

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"People such as academics, teachers, scientists and many other professionals are often strikingly immature outside of their strictly specialist competence in the sense of being unpredictable, unbalanced in priorities, and tending to overreact.”

Charlton added that since modern cultures now favor cognitive flexibility, “immature” people tend to thrive and succeed, and have set the tone not only for contemporary life, but also for the future, when it is possible our genes may even change as a result of the psychological shift.

Ok, so not wanting to grow up is one thing but this study implies something else. If it's more effective for people to act childishly we are supposed to to do the opposite? Is 'growing up' really a move that will stunt your development, lower your paycheck and make you less able to cope in a modern world? Have we built a world that is designed for children? What exactly is going on here?