This is how my brain works when I randomly sit in on a psych class:
Erikson's model of psychological development frames human beings' growth in stages starting with building trust and ending with integrity. In the middle, are stages autonomy, initiative, competency, identity, intimacy, and generativity. (This is an extremely truncated version, but what blog analysis isn't?) Erikson would argue that if not enough of one stage of your development is complete you can't successfully move on to the next one. Naturally there is some overlap, but this begs the question why are some the most "generative" people so young?
Mostly who I'm thinking of in this query is the extremely influential people who accomplish their greatest achievements at a young age. It may be that the power of our celebrity driven culture pushed them to fame while secretly they were still having a literal identity crisis, however small it was. This doesn't seem entirely accurate considering some people have done the same thing all their lives and have reached "integrity" status without passing through the phases in the expected time frame. Some would argue that these people still have perceptual change within their sphere of whatever it is they're doing, but some kids really just seem like adults trapped in small bodies.
I seriously think that some people possess the capability to pass through these phases of cognitive functioning faster than the norm. With limited lifespans in earlier times, how did we build arches, pyramids, castles, and cathedrals before people passed into their generative phase? Why are some of our greatest writers the dreaded "isolated" and never achieve intimacy? Can't exceptional circumstances propel these phases into overdrive despite hormonal limitations? Aren't some people just exceptionally mature?
I'll leave you with a post-conventional conclusion and say simply that you can decide the answer because there is no answer. You are free to originate your choices completely in the tangible universe or else in the one nebulous one.
Intangibly,
Jamin
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