YOUTH and Decision Making

Decision making can be regarded as an outcome of mental processes (cognitive process) leading to the selection of a course of action among several alternatives. Every decision making process produces a final choice.[1] The output can be an action or an opinion of choice. (wikipedia)

Can youth make sound decisions…?

Consider these views by two very eminent thinkers:

“Youth is easily deceived, because it is quick to hope.” Aristotle

“The surest way to corrupt a youth is to instruct him to hold in higher esteem those who think alike than those who think differently” Nietzsche

So…is the youth gullible ?
Can young people discriminate….between idealism and practicality ?

Hesiod…an ancient Greek Poet had this to say:

“I see no hope for the future of our people if they are dependent on the frivolous youth of today, for certainly all youth are reckless beyond words. When I was a boy, we were taught to be discrete and respectful of elders, but the present youth are exceedingly wise and impatient of restraint.”

A glimmer of hope for the ‘impractical’ youth…

Henry David Thoreau: about Decision Making
”In the long run, men hit only what they aim at. Therefore, though they should fail immediately, they had better aim at something high.”

But the LUST FOR LIFE painter…Vincent Van Gogh has this to say…
“It is a pity that, as one gradually gains experience, one loses one's youth.”

Frontal Lobe  and reckless behavior…a scientific viewpoint !
(courtesy: http://www.suite101.com/blog/pytel/teenage_brain_not_developed

A study presented at the BA Festival of Science in England in September of 2006 states that the frontal lobe of teenagers is not well-developed and they can not behave like adults. Even though they may be 16 or 17 years old and look like adults, the brain has not matured. The brain is playing catch-up with the body.
Grows in Spurts

Adding to the confusion, teenage brains don't develop smoothly. With growth and hormone changes to consider, the brain may grow in spurts. Suddenly, an adult may notice that a "lightbulb" just flashed on -- they are acting human now. The brain developed more at that point.

Teens Seem Selfish

Teenagers tend to think with the back of their brain and adults the front of the brain. What the teenage brain does not take into account is how their actions may affect those around them. An adult is likely to consider peers, a spouse, and children before making a decision. Therefore, a teenager looks selfish and impulsive. And, in a way, they are because the part of the brain that holds empathy is not well-developed. Teenagers are literally not capable of behaving in the way adults choose to have them behave.

Frontal Lobe is Critical

Since every teenager develops at a different rate, it is impossible to predict when each will reach maturity. Waiting for the frontal lobe to develop may be frustrating. It may not happen until students begin attending college and return home as more civilized beings. The college experience may have had some effect but it was probably more likely the stage in development of the teenage brain.

Youth and societal challenges
(an excerpt from wikipedia)

In modern societies, young adults in their late teens and early 20s encounter a number of issues as they finish school and begin to hold full-time jobs and take on other responsibilities of adulthood. In the late teens and early 20s, young adults become individuals and will set themselves apart. Self becomes the main reliance. Young adults will strive to become independent from parents, take responsibility for themselves and make their own decisions. During the young adult stage, mainly the majority think in a more mature manner and take issues more seriously. They focus on the construction of a better future. Adolescents are generally regarded as naïve and inexperienced, but are expected to grow into mature adults in their 20s. Young adults in this stage of human development learn value in both tangible and intangible objects. Their relationships with their parents and older adults change. However, in many cases, young adults and adolescents have enormous talent that can, in cases, outstrip some adults' talents. In many cases, problems such as lack of time (schooling and other commitments) and lack of money can arrest the adolescent's development in terms of intellectual and talent growth.
 
This debate is endless.

Follies of youth….recklessness of youth….and the maturity of the grown ups….
….all these are relative statements !!!

Finally….we will wind up by quoting this famous Roman philosopher and orator…

“As I approve of a youth that has something of the old man in him, so I am no less pleased with an old man that has something of the youth. He that follows this rule may be old in body, but can never be so in mind.”
Marcus Tullius Cicero