age, ageism, maturity...

[Clutch]

-Edit-

Nevermind, could've be taken the wrong way.

[chrisd]

ontopic: maturity on the internet is overrated ◕‿‿◕

Maturity can never be overrated!!!!!!!!!! It is the greatest thing in the world!!!!!!!!!! And especially on the internet, where it is a bit rare..... Age is much less relevant..... I have seen 60-year-olds being quite trolly in some cases.

There is not much that can be admired in having a certain age. Just keep breathing for a particular number of years and there you are. The kind of person that one is is much more important in any case. As such this topic is a rather useless. The original post does not even contain a question, so what are we talking about anyway?

[Hoax]

haha @ trolly

[MrsKsr]

Do you think you act mature or more importantly do you think you act your age?

Hmm, this is a good question. I have to ask myself a question "what does it mean to act one's age?" I know of people who are my age (19 almost 20) who act nothing like me; Partying all the time, excessive consumption of alcohol and/or drugs, living in halls or with parents. But, up until I was about 17 I did the same things, but then I "grew up" because of things and/or people in my immediate vicinity. So does that make me more mature than a 19 year old, just a normal 19 year old, or just Mya, who happens to be 19..?

Personally, I found that although I was "growing up" in the 'real world' when I got onto the internet it was like my real life got plugged out. Not until I was almost 18 did I get sick of being a troll, or aggravating people in game, not just in Arma but elsewhere as well.
It's a really hard battle to get into a community at a young age acting stupid, then turn it around as you get older and realise your faults. I'd like to think that I'm different now than I was when I was Vipe playing in Ww ctf, and I hope people can see it. But, my real issue with myself is, why did I think that it was socially acceptable to act differently over the internet than it was "in real life"?

Now that I'm older I tend to treat people over the internet as I would if we were having a conversation face to face, whereas when I was younger there was a lot of bravado and pushing of people's buttons. I think the internet gives people an excuse to hide behind the anonymity and behave however they like without any real consequences.

It's great that Mkay posted about his journey because I remember first meeting him in game and a lot of people were always "hating" on him and I went out of my way to try and get to know him. He came into this game at the exact moment I started "growing up" and it's nice to know that first impressions aren't always right and that people can indeed change. That's something people here often have a problem dealing with; change of character. When a person stumbles into this community and acts a certain way but changes later down the line, we all find it somewhat difficult to believe it, so it's nice when people actually do.

On another note; I can't say I like this attitude of "older people cause all the drama then dump it on us younger ones" because a lot of "older" people in this community alone have been there for me and a lot of other younger players when I didn't expect that kind of meshing from an online community; sinewav, Lucifer and compguygene to name a few. I think you confuse having personal issues with a couple "older" members of this community with all or most older people being disrespectful to younger people, or pompous. I'm pretty sure you have had issues with younger people on the forum, so why not call them out by making a topic about how younger people cause all the drama and blame it on the older ones?

I just find it redundant to point fingers when not looking at yourself. I know full well that I have my own problems, and things that people dislike about me, but that's for me to figure out and change, not for anyone to lament over and try to make me feel bad about, this applies to "real life" too not just on the internet.

People should just stop trying to conform to an idea of who they should be and just be who they are. You are never going to please everyone.

[Mkay1]

Who gives a **** about getting more mature. Why the **** should I act mature when a bunch of idiots including my own teammate, potter (you just made a friend of me ) kick me from a fort server "because I tked" (even though he was trapped, I went through his hole, so he was "mad")? It is so stupid how one tk is enough to get me kicked, however it is often hard to get a repetitive offender kicked. They just kick me for laughs.

[sinewav]

They just kick me for laughs.

Unfortunately, he's got a point. Sometimes people who do the right thing get bullied anyway. I guess you just have to rise above it somehow and not let it get to you since there is no way to stop it.

[Lucifer]

They just kick me for laughs.

Unfortunately, he's got a point. Sometimes people who do the right thing get bullied anyway. I guess you just have to rise above it somehow and not let it get to you since there is no way to stop it.

I always vote to kick myself when the polls appear. I figure I'm enough of a smeghead to be worth kicking.

[chrisd]

Who gives a **** about getting more mature. Why the **** should I act mature when a bunch of idiots including my own teammate, potter (you just made a friend of me ) kick me from a fort server "because I tked" (even though he was trapped, I went through his hole, so he was "mad")? It is so stupid how one tk is enough to get me kicked, however it is often hard to get a repetitive offender kicked. They just kick me for laughs.

Mkay!!!! Thank you very much for posing this great and extremely important question. First we have to note that whether or not you decide to do your best at being mature, there is no guarantee that people will treat you in mature ways in return. On the other hand, being mature yourself is by far the easiest way to have a bigger chance of being treated well by others. On a tron server there is generally more people than you and the person treating you badly. The others will note who was behaving maturely and who was not. This will influence their thoughts about you and about the other person. A person can easily reap the fruits (both good and bad) of their behavior a long time after the actual behavior.

The second reason for wanting to be mature is that it feels better. If one reacts to a certain event by saying "Who gives a ****...." how does it feel? Does it feel good to think such a thought? You will have to decide for yourself but for me, I can tell that if I say "Who gives a ****" generally I feel emotionally charged in a negative way and that just does not feel very good to me. It is not pleasant to be angry. When ones maturity does not depend on the maturity of the other person, we can feel good regardless of what the other person does.

Ultimately, this question has been addressed by various religions too. The Buddha answered the question what we should be thinking about persons who are busy sawing of your limbs and thus killing you. The answer of the Buddha is to feel compassion for them. Then we have Jesus who says about the soldiers that torture him to death "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do....". We see that extremely interesting persons like the Buddha and Jesus advocate responding in mature ways to even the greatest forms of injustice. One can attempt to follow the example of great persons and by doing so enjoy being the greatest character that you could possible be or you could follow the masses and be mediocre. It is your choice to make. For me, attempting to be excellent feels much better than to just turn into whatever my surroundings dictate.

[Lord Pein]

chrisd brings up another interesting point! Why would one want to be mature?

To answer that, let's look at how maturity is defined...

Dictionary.com says:

1.
the state of being mature; ripeness: The fruit will reach maturity in a few days.
2.
full development; perfected condition: maturity of judgment; to bring a plan to maturity.
3.
Finance .
a.
the state of being due.
b.
the time when a note or bill of exchange becomes due.

I lol'd at definition 3.

Anyways, in terms of people, I would say definition 2 is what we are looking for.

I would have to say that there are times when I would not like to be mature, the days of being a child are the best; the only responsibility you have is asking going to the bathroom!

After thinking for 2 minutes, I lol'd at definition 1.

There are also times I like being mature; like really, I can drive a car, I don't have to wait for Mom to give me a ride to Durka's house.

I also like working, I have 3 jobs right now and I LOVE making my own money.

Sorry if this post seems like rambling...

ANYWAYS, I have always had my personal definition of maturity:

Being able to act appropriately in the given situation.

One problem with my definition is that different minds will cause inconsistencies in it's application; but that's cool.

[Word]

This happened in our school today:
One guy (18 years old) was drunk and pissed in a hedge on the schoolyard (it was graduation prank day).
The janitor (50-55) caught him in the act, called him a dirty swine and made a video with his mobile phone to show it our headmaster (needless to say, everyone else laughed). And they say our generation exchanges dirty videos...

[Slov]

whoa, did word just make a grammar mistake??

[Desolate]

Looks more like a typo, but hahahaha

[Word]

catched

fixed

[Titanoboa]

This thread has been a good read so far, thanks.

1. the state of being mature; ripeness: The fruit will reach maturity in a few days.

This clearly describes fruit. And to get good fruit, you need a good tree.

Let's say you want to plant an orange tree in a greenhouse. You plant a seed, and it'll need soil, sunlight and water to grow into a tree. For it to bear fruit, you have to make sure that the soil is good with enough room for the roots. You need to add water to keep the soil moist, and the tree needs to have access to sunlight.
If a tree is planted in moist soil in warm temperature and lots of sunlight, but in a small pot, it won't grow to its full capacity and won't bear fruit. If it's planted in good soil with enough room and sunlight, but doesn't get enough water, the tree will grow but there won't be much fruit. If it's planted in rich soil with decent room and watering, but not enough sunlight, it will be a big tree that looks healthy, but the fruit will taste bitter. However, if it's planted in rich soil with plenty of room, moisture and sunlight, you will get a good tree full of sweet fruit.

[matchbox53]

I think i have used the internet for atleast 10 years now since the first days of napster and even icq.. and to be honest i have been into worst chatrooms where racists and evil people go there i did learn alot that it doesnt matter how old u are its more about your personality.

i once met this young fella recently in a music chat room i have a specific type of music that kid and he managed to pull out a very great tunes he really impressed me. then i asked how old are you he was like 12 i was shocked o.o .

I have also met some 50ish years old who are capable to destroy a very nice atmospheric community but that just happens its but nonetheless age itself can help in maturing just like m-kay for example usually in that age most teenagers experience this huge amount of energy inside them and they have to take it out. And just telling them kids will make them enough rage or something like that i have plenty of experience in that cause i have taught alot of courses where i had kids and calling them that was bad idea

But ya in the internet u can be who u wanna be which makes it the virtual side.