I was on a forum that has really gone down the drains lately (read: "This is Very Depressing"). There is one boy (15) who keeps posting about how there are so many "stupid" 13-year-olds there were messing with the forum. (This guy is 15, he really is not much better than most people there. But you can tell he tries to make his posts readable atleast.) This is about the fifth time I have read a remark from him like "The stupid little 13 year olds." So I replied to one of his posts with this.

He replied with.

I lost all my respect for him right there.

Anyways... how do you define maturity? Do you think it has to do with age? Brains? Respect for others? Or what? Personally, I think it is how they treat others.

  Maturity \Ma*tu"ri*ty\, n. [L. maturitas: cf. F. maturit['e].]
     1. The state or quality of being mature; ripeness; full
        development; as, the maturity of corn or of grass;
        maturity of judgment; the maturity of a plan.
  
     2. Arrival of the time fixed for payment; a becoming due;
        termination of the period a note, etc., has to run.

Personally, I consider someone mature when they've had sufficiently many experiences that they don't react extremely to new ones.

EDIT: they don't react disproportionately to new ones.

Not without corroding its core simplicity! Being mature is, in my opinion, being at a level where you can understand the true value and consequence of the things other people have done and any things you are considering doing in response. Compare and contrast with the typical want to over-react when younger, which I am claiming often comes from a lack of perspective resulting directly from a lack of experience rather than, e.g. a naturally zealous character.

No, younger children will simply tend towards being immature according to my definition, whereas a natural disengagement or a preference to experience new things will often produce the same effects of not over-reacting as an informed sense of perspective.

Here is how this guy responded after I said I lost all of my respect for him.

Here's a fact that's fun for all the family: boys mature faster than girls, we're just above rubbing it in their faces all the time.

Maturity is knowing when not to speak.

Thomas Harte is right with this quote,

To expand on that, maturity is following the rules and breaking them appropriately

That is exactly the reason I posted this. What is your interpretation of it Harbinger ZERO?

LolOLOOLOOL!!!1!!!111

I aM TEH M4tUr3 H4x00R!!!1!!11 n0 _w1cK1d p3Rs0N b3iNG 4s M4Tur3 Th4N M333!!1!!! I w1Ll K1cK yOuR 4$$!

Everybody who knows l33t sp34k has to be mature. This very highly evolved language proves validity by its existance over long decades. Everybody NOT knowing l33t sp34k is immature. Oh yeah, another sign of maturity: make a MMORPG as first programming project.

(Just for the case you haven't noticed: I've been being sarcastic. Take me for example. You just have to invert me and you'll get your definition of maturity!)

His l33t speak is actually much more readable than some I've seen...

Marcello

Man, I almost wish I was on those forums. I had a jolly good time writing a reply to his post, but it serves no purpose, so meh.

I'm in a strange mood today. It's like I'm blood-thirsty, and yet really happy at the same time.

To the original post. But even if I smashed his ego into the ground, what have I gained? What have I gained in another's suffering? Will I feel better? Or worse?

Even if he probably could use a nice slap, it's probably best to ignore is ignorance. Remember, debating over the internet is like winning the special olympics. Even if you win, your still retarded. As for you, all I can say (in addition to ignoring him) is to set the best possible example for yourself and people like you.

23: That music video is funny. I like the song musically, but the idea of joining the military and then deserting is so stupid (we even had a thread on it). Perfect MTV, though.

[slightly changerizered]