With the coming of agriculture, the species moved into its childhood. As with a child, this period was marked by growth and expansion. As the population mushroomed, small group interdependency was replaced by ever larger authoritarian hierarchies. It was here that the still predominant authoritarian forms, including our current moralities, were initiated. The industrial revolution and tapping into nature's powers through science accelerated development and expansion, moving us into adolescence.
Youth is characterized by great self-absorption.
In adolescence there is often rebellion against adult authority, but not against authoritarianism. Teenagers generally look to or construct new gods and idols to follow. Or they develop a misplaced faith in their own point of view, or that of their peers, by ignoring any information that does not fit. This stance of unchallengeability that is directed toward other authorities is itself authoritarian. Adolescence is also marked by feeling and acting as if one were immortal.