Discovery News had an article on the increasing number of mentally immature adults today. The study’s author believes that as formal education continues past physical maturity, people are required to constantly learn new things and consequently are forced into “psychological neotony” (one of them big words, like mayonnaise), allowing them to keep the child-like flexibility of attitudes, behaviors and knowledge necessary to continue learning. Perhaps so, but how do you measure emotional maturity? Are we certain that adults in previous eras weren’t just as mentally immature as they are today? I’m pretty immature, myself; most everyone I know would fit the criteria for immaturity… but we all seem to get along just fine in society.

Maybe that immaturity is why we seek out parental figures to solve our problems for us. A “mommy/daddy to make it better”. The folks who can’t solve their own problems and expect the government to solve them. The folks that call the cops when their neighbor’s leaves blow onto their yard, or when their 14-year-old talks back to them. How did our species survive long enough to come down from the trees? I guess problem solving isn’t as great a survival trait as I thought. Sure, some problems are beyond any one person’s ability to solve on their own; but passing a law because someone did something that offended your tender sensabilities? Please.

I had also run across an article showing that aolspeak… those annoying abbreviations used in instant messenger chat that show up on message boards, that I bitched about here… when used obsessively actually retards intelligence. Unfortunately, I can’t find the article again. But I find it amusing that not only does aolspeak make you look retarded… it actually makes you retarded. Heh, heh.

In other news, the upstairs A/C unit seems to have shit the bed. It’s only two years old, dammit, and I just cleaned the filter. The downstairs unit is still keeping the house nice and chilly; which is a relief after spending a week in 95 degree, 80% humidity, no shade anywhere weather on the range. Taught 8 basic firearms fundamentals classes over the week. Most folks were OK, and I think everyone who attended improved somewhat. But some of them apparently had never seen a pistol before in their life and didn’t know which end the bullets came out of. I’ve never had to spend so much time showing someone how to lock the slide to the rear in my life.