A bridge between yesterday and today

Just found something interesting that i wrote a long time back. Funnily enough, I had named it 'Crap' - the keen reader would already have noticed my penchant for this wonderfully descriptive word. It is good to know that I haven't changed too much in all these years. Here goes...


CRAP
What is maturity? Is it the understanding that comes through years of social interaction? Is it the knowledge that one gains through experience? Or is it innate, and is it dependent only on the person being talked about – something like intelligence?

Over the years, many people have asserted that maturity can come only through experiences; only if ‘you see the world’ – a favourite of all parents ;). Well, all such definitions cannot explain oddities in the behaviour of normal people.

On one hand, if a parent tells a child to ‘shut up’, the child usually listens. Maybe, it is not due to respect all the time. Sometimes it is due to fear. But, the end result is that he realises that a quiet submission would really be in his best interests.

On the other hand, if a child tells a parent to ‘shut up’, the parent usually gets agitated (in very few cases does he/she not get agitated). The parent should have known through his/her many interactions with the world that such an action might be a result of the stress the child is under. But, in stead of being understanding (and mature?), the parent is usually severe.

Well, then who is more mature in this case - the parent or the child? This is a singled out example of the many that happen everyday. It only leads one to wonder if we haven’t got many of our ideas wrong. Don’t you think it is time to do something about it?