The Adolescent Brain - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: Sionyn
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 15, 2012, 09:36:12 pm
content: what possible evolution purpose would it be to pump hormones and yet it not being able to have a reason process due to that part of the brain being underdeveloped its almost as if it was setup to failpossible a learn process some evolutionary scientist believe

author: Unknown
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: September 15, 2012, 10:29:25 pm
content: This is a well known evolutionary flaw which makes it easier for you to breed, otherwise you get too picky and never get to the breeding phase.)

author: Rerouter
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 15, 2012, 10:54:21 pm
content: the one that knows its race will survive, on average every couple has to have 2 kids to keep the population stable (minimum) that means average couple has to go at it atleast twice,it doesnt exactly matter when those hormones hit, it still makes the guys more willing to take risks and the urge to breed from both parties, just younger is better for survival but equally not so young that they havent had time to learn to survive (kinda invalid today eh?)

author: bullet308
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 16, 2012, 02:18:11 am
content: Age of onset of puberty has been slowly but steadily moving younger and younger for centuries, attributable largely to improved diets and possibly now hormones in the food supply. IIRC, 140 years ago the average age of puberty in girls was something like 16. Now, its popping up in 10 and even nine-year olds pretty often. Soon, they will have to move the fifth grade out of elementary school and into middle school. :-/

author: Psi
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 16, 2012, 03:21:29 am
content: Quote from: Sionyn on September 15, 2012, 09:36:12 pmYes, i agree, its about learning.(which is failing)People who make mistakes when young learn things that makes them more successful as an adult by improving their decision making skills.Let me explain something to backup my point...The intensity of emotions (positive and negative) have, more or less, set limits, eg, between 100% happy and 100% sad.An experience can seem like the "best thing ever" until you experience something better. Then the previous experience doesn't seem as good any more.How happy/sad you get from something is determined by your own internal comparison to the range of experiences you've already had in your life.This is why an event can seem like 'end of the world' for a teenager but trivial for an adult. The teenager really does feel as bad as they are expressing because it's the worst thing that's happened to them so far in their entire life.This ties in with your statement because making mistakes at a young age enables a person to learn without the actual event needing to be that serious.To force an adult to learn would require a pretty extreme situation with lasting consequences to achieve the necessary amount of emotion.

author: Sionyn
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 16, 2012, 07:53:14 pm
content: to which i agree

author: westfw
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 17, 2012, 01:34:12 am
content: QuoteEvolution doesn't care about "improving" the species, except WRT the ability to reproduce and increase the numbers. So it is to evolutionary advantage for members to start breeding as soon as they're able, so as to ensure the maximum number of offspring before death...

author: bullet308
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 17, 2012, 02:47:50 am
content: Its a little more complicated than that. The whole equation includes the offspring surviving long enough to reproduce themselves. Droppin' babies that die young really does not buy you much in Darwinian terms except to get the raw number of chances up.And really, a pregnant preteen is not some major victory in moving our species forward. Not only is the baby at high risk of not doing well, it could take the mother with it if the delivery goes all sideways.This is a case of an unintended consequence of civilization pushing us beyond design limits. Pregnant 16 year old? Sure, that at least works from a hardware perspective. Pregnant tweenie? A train wreck by any measure.

author: Mechatrommer
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 17, 2012, 03:10:27 am
content: Quote from: bullet308 on September 16, 2012, 02:18:11 ambingo! we've known this 1000+ years ago. whats left for us is to satisfy nature's (physical) call or... those "ethical by the book" call. at least one example has been given, possibly many other cases unreported... ps: is it wrong to say the obvious?-(my "other personality" speaking)under section of Extinction fromhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evolutionits stated every species will extinct (fate), but i dont see it that way for human. we have one family one child plan (China), we have family planning pills everywhere, condoms (variety taste), etc. it proved we actually growing. Agent Smith is right, we are like virus, multiply and consuming and destructing one planet's resources and looking for another planet to survive. the only aspect that tried to balance it is when we kill each other. if really evolution doesnt care about "improving" species, then where the "survival of the fittest" or "Adaptation" (a section in the wiki link) fit in?thanks to Mr Darwin for making us lot to discuss...

author: bullet308
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 17, 2012, 03:36:33 am
content: Well, when the species is sentient (or at least semi-sentient) and is constantly using more and more powerful technology to tweak about with its own environment, I imagine evolution gets a lot more complex. Some say that evolution essentially stops, but I don't think so. It just starts taking some really odd turns, like the prospect of pregnant fifth graders as a consequence of the development of agriculture, for one. But really, we are just now to the place where we know just how much we dont know about directing our own evolution intelligently. We are just as much victims of our own vicissitudes as we are those of nature. On the really macro scale, that will play out large as global CO2, mean temperatures and sea levels all continue to rise.