I recall many times growing up when I felt like my inalienable fundamental human rights were violated in unjust autocratic ways, mostly at school. There was also the time of being a year older than my partner but the potential of ridiculous arbitrary laws having major consequences.
I feel like the age of 18 as some kind of moral benchmark is ridiculous. I feel like it is just tied to the age of conscription. Basing sexual morality on the age when the state can abduct and murder without recourse is nonsense. Most of us likely exist in a duality where we might cringe at “underage” of any kind, but not think twice when a couple of teens are dating and in a physical consensual relationship that is respectful and private.
So from a distant future culture’s perspective, like if Star Trek TNG existed in hard SciFi, and there is no need for our present arbitrary policy enforcement, what should be the basis of adolescent autonomous agency?
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Maybe it is weening, cultural pressures, and education.
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Maybe it is full independence and self sufficiency.
For the record, this is my favored idea as it pressures society to enable a balanced financial early life and opportunities. It also adjusts to account for real world maturity levels. IMO, it is either this or number 1 as these are derived from individual human life phases.
- Maybe you think it should be something else?
This reply is meant to generate discussion. It is not sarcasm or meant to be taken negatively at all:
What is the purpose of any rules? Why have them? Is it possible to make a “perfect” rule or policy or public intervention whereby all affected persons are serviced fairly? Probably not. If you conclude we need rules, how do we balance their benefits with the disenfranchisement of some of the persons affected negatively?
In your specific case, how do you make the rules minimize negative outcomes without excessively sacrificing the potential positive outcomes?
I’m genuinely interested in your perspective from your age and place in time.
These are good and valid questions. If you’re passionate about them, you may consider studying political science and/or law in the future. One day, if you’re still passionate about this topic, you may be in a position to change the rules.
These are great philosophical questions.
Since I’m leaning towards anarchism but not an expert, I’d say that’s exactly the point of being anarchists: a set of people far removed from the community (like presidents and prime minister, state counselors,or ever city mayor) are not in s good position to even know what people actually need. And that’s when they do have theirs interests at heart.
Whereas the people in a community knows best what a community needs and are best suited to ask for rules that serve them, and impose consequences on a case by case basis that is not sustainable in current forms of government. So it would be totally possible to question every rule and make sure they make sense and benefit the community; and change it when it gets obsolete. Though my favorite part is the community decides how bad the rules were broken and that’s important for having s fair punishment.
What purpose/Why Rules: The purpose of rules is to protect those that can not protect themselves against those with the power to harm them.
The possibility of perfect rules: This is my real key underlying curiosity. If a well developed AGI governance system is possible, then fractal attention in governance becomes possible in an objective and data based way.
This makes me curious about the current potential for more direct feedback mechanisms. Obviously basing maturity on a financial threshold of independent life and self sufficiency has its flaws, but I am curious if the massive impact on military, sex, and the bulk of the workforce’s need for early independent life would be a strong enough mechanism to override the negatives. I think any closed loop control system should perform far better than arbitrary open loop.
Regardless of the potential for closed loop regulations, how do you think fractal attention alters governance if we make the assumption that the laws themselves can be written as very specific AGI alignment in a system with adequate redundancy and watchdogs needed for 10 stigma elimination of the alignment problem? Now the law is not a generalization, but instead is an individualized balance and reasoning for the needs of each citizen separately. That can also include dialog with the individual to remove any push back from the perception of an autocratic limitation.
I think that creates a lot more autonomous agency where the governance is both a protection and guardian.
Thank you for your comments.
YTA
That is not a matter for a society to address. It needs parents, especially the father.
If you haven’t already, you should read John Caldwell Holt. “Escape From Childhood,” especially, addresses exactly what you’re talking about here.
Honestly it was like a spiritual awakening for me when I read it, just realizing I wasn’t the only one seeing the injustice.
There are things kids cannot consent to, but if you are asking about a utopian society where children were not at risk of abuse of any sort? I would say not an age based system but a competence based system. So prove you are able to do the things you want to do, and be allowed to do them. I’d still mandate education, but again, less age segregation, take classes as you are ready for them, move at your pace.
Age is a good way to do it because while we don’t want kids to be given too much power, we also don’t want adults’ power to be taken away.
Having to earn freedoms through competency tests means that freedom is a privilege and not a right, and that’s a bad core belief for a society to hold.
Freedoms are ours regardless of who we are, those are inherent to being a person. So bodily autonomy for instance, that belongs to everyone, competent or not, there’s no relevant exam you could take to assess that. (Though I guess technically I did not let my kids wipe themselves until they’d practiced a few times and I knew they were competent) But things like driving and smoking, using intoxicants and working or making contractual agreements or handling and using weapons, and most jobs that are currently unlicensed, I think you need to show you understand enough to do those, and that different people are able to at different ages. And yes some people will never be competent enough to handle weapons or vehicles.
I will wholeheartedly agree that age is a good threshold for things like body modification, and also think there’s a problem with “who decides what constitutes competence” but since OP said this was in a perfect world, I do mostly think what you can do safely with understanding is what you should be free to do.
How would you address a situation where an adult does not qualify for a critical threshold that prevents them from being self sufficient?
The guy that disabled me was exactly this situation.
They may not qualify in that moment so it’s necessary to educate them until they can qualify. If you don’t know how to drive, go back to taking driving lessons until you can pass the test.
The problem is that when a social system fails to address alternatives, the test changes to accommodate.
