Judgment & Impulse Control
During research for "the human key" I gained insightful knowledge along the way. Though the knowledge may not directly relate to the theme of the book , I believe it would be a waste not to share. It may provide you insight and a starting point for further exploration.
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We humans, unlike all other species, require the longest nurturing and protection period before we reach adulthood. Other animal species reach adulthood in two to three years and fend for themselves. A human alone on the street or in the forest at the age of seven, would not likely survive.
Learning
A young child is biologically prepared to learn. That’s why a 3-year-old’s brain is two and a half times more active than an adult’s. It has more synapses (connections) between nerve fibers that make a child more sensitive to learning. The density of the synapses remains high throughout the first 10 years of life.
Because of this high brain activity, a three-year old is a genius for learning compared to an adult. At this period in a child's life they are learning everything. One small piece of this “everything” that we can objectively measure is that they learn a complex language all by themselves. No one teaches them.
Moving toward the adolescent years the synapses (connections) go through a pruning process. As a result our adult learning capability is more specific and focused. As we grow into adolescence we begin to narrow our learning interests. We might call these aptitudes or specializations.
Judgement and impulse control
One of the consequences built in to our human genetic clock is that the last organ to mature is our brains. The last part of our brain to mature is the prefrontal cortex. It is located just behind our forehead. It does not fully mature until we are in our mid-twenties. What is the function of this part of the brain? It is where the “executive” functions reside. Executive function can be described as "the management system of the brain".
Executive functions include:
abilities to differentiate among conflicting thoughts
determine good and bad, better and best, same and different
future consequences of current activities
working toward a defined goal
prediction of outcomes
expectation based on actions, and social and impulse control
To sum up this list, the prefrontal cortex is where judgment and impulse control reside. Individuals before the middle twenties have yet to mature these capabilities.
Before we had this scientific knowledge of the brain, society put age limits on:
purchasing alcoholic beverages
crime categories - juvenile & adult
movie ratings
cigarette purchases
gun ownership
joining the military
marriage
voting
the ability to sign contracts
Why were these limitations in place? Experience and intuition demonstrated these required judgement and impulse control.
Here is an additional example where judgement and impulse control play a role. Automobile insurance rates are much higher for individuals under the age of 25. Why? They have a higher number of accidents. It is a statistical reality; the higher the incidence of accidents the higher the cost of insurance. Higher rates for automobile insurance to those under the age of 25 have existed for at least the last 60 years.
It is statistical. The insurance industry didn't base their premiums based on brain science. They took a statistical approach using actuaries based on observations of actual events. It's just numbers.
With today's brain scanning and testing technologies, neuroscientists have come to measure what our ancestors have intuitively recognized.
“I am not young enough to know everything.”
Oscar Wilde
(1854 - 1900)
When we were teenagers or in our early twenties we may have thought that we have good judgment, we didn’t. This doesn’t mean we adults have perfect judgment. There are individuals who are sent to prison when they are in their 50s and 60s.
(It is easy to understand why the young have had little judgment or impulse control during COVID-19 pandemic and become spreaders of the virus.)
Experience
Experience is another component. A large range of experience is accrued over time - the more time the more experience. Adult brains not only have a better ability to judge, their judgments themselves are based on a wide range, complexities, responsibilities, challenges and choices (good and bad) over a greater span of years. (That hurt! I won't do that again! )
Mistakes are the tuition we pay for learning.
"Good judgement comes from experience, and often experience comes from bad judgement."
Rita Mae Brown
(b. 1944)
Adult responsibility
Young brains bring their natural raw brain capability; our responsibility as adults is to bring the other two components – judgment and experience.
“Immaturity is the incapacity to use one’s intelligence without the guidance of another.”
Immanuel Kant
(1724-1804)
