Adults: They Grow Down So Fast
When we’re young I think we’re indoctrinated to think things about the older generation that are just there to keep us in check and aren’t true. We are told that the ones who brought us into existence are competent, intelligent, and deserve respect. I’m not saying that it’s wrong to think that way yet I do think it’s an exaggeration. As I made my way through the world, unfortunately I can report that some older people I’ve met are a far from those things I was indoctrinated to believe. Now I have to reprogram myself not to believe it.
Coasting through Life
The way I see it, a majority of the older population (perhaps 75% to 90% of them) reach a plateau once their education is over, whether that be technical education, academic education, and/or on the job training. On the other hand, those who do not plateau are the rare gems that you find in this world and you should be thankful for finding them. After formal education is over, one of four things can happen to a human being as they go through life: Exponential decay, steady decay, steady growth, or exponential growth. As much as it pains me to say it, most experience exponential decay and before I was baffled as to why but now I understand why it happens.
Early Development
It boils down to how the reward and punishment centers in the mind are activated in an intricate game of carrots and sticks that starts in early development. My theory of development is that it starts with curiosity. A child naturally wants to know more about the world around it. It crawls around a room, starts waving its hand at someone and puts various objects in its mouth. The child’s reward center is activated through getting something (most likely food) for something it does that’s nice (e.g. saying the word “mama”). Similarly, a punishment such as a natural one can come by touching a hot stove and learning not to do it again. Then that fateful day comes when the child has to go to school. In the child’s critical stages of development, it will most likely go to a school where punishments are emphasized more than rewards and natural curiosity. Now when this child doesn’t do well there are consequences and those consequences can be very unpleasant. Therefore the child gets discouraged from learning and wants to pursue more leisurely activities. Fast forward to adulthood when we have a person who after they finally leave the education system doesn’t want to learn on their own anymore. Thus, he/she will either end up exponentially decaying or steadily decaying depending on the harshness of those punishments he/she got as a child.
Grow With the Flow
On the other hand a young adult can go through the terrible system but still have some kind of side hobby like video games, sports, and/or some outlet to express his/her creativity. Even though he/she knows that learning in a public school can be a terrible experience, one of these outside things he or she is learning is giving him or her a passion and a love for learning. In addition to these passions, others in the growth phase such as Jeff Bezos go to schools that follow alternative models such as the Montessori system and other forms of democratic schooling. These are places where Pavlovian reward and punishment ideals aren’t so prominent and therefore the student can better thrive.
The Pot Calling the Kettle Black
Now that I’ve given my theory on the decayers and the growers, I will talk about the hypocrisy of the decayers when it comes to children and the younger generation. The decayers somehow think that the same exact school system that put them in the predicament that they are in is going to help their children when they themselves are the evidence that it didn’t help them. The decayers will complain about something but, never take the time to actually do anything about it. The decayers have a very short attention span and a need for instant gratification. Thus, despite all the work they put into school, if a punishment or coercion system isn’t put into place for them they will overlook something that can dramatically change their lives for the better. One of the worst habits by far of the decayers is not keeping their commitments and blaming others when things go wrong. This habit is astoundingly and astonishingly ignorant in how blatantly hypocritical it is. Now consider everything that I said about the decayers, do the exact opposite of it and you get a grower. A decayer will make an excuse while a grower gets a result.
Change the One In the Mirror
Some people in this world try to change decayers and try to get them to see the light but, decayers can be a very stubborn breed of person. When the world is evolving rapidly, the only thing that can stop some of these decayers when they have dug in their heels is a signal from the world that if they don’t change with it they will be left behind. This can be a very traumatic event for a decayer. The rate of growth and decay is based on willingness to learn vs. maximization of leisure time and excuse making. So I’m pretty sure if you made it to the end of this blog post you’re most likely a grower because you’ve made a commitment to finish something you started. Congratulations.