Basically, far too many people have seen descriptors like ânot fully developedâ and taken that to mean itâs like a partially assembled Ikea bookshelf; a work in progress, something that will be able to do itâs job when itâs done, but not until thenâ.
Thatâs not how brains work, though. At every stage of development, theyâre âfunctionalâ. Young brains allow us to walk, speak, perceive, connect, deduce, calculate, coordinate, decide, respond, focus, retain, and all the other stuff your standard human brain does all day every day to successfully navigate our increasingly complex world.
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Why do people insist otherwise? Unclear. But itâs not based on any particular scientific study or claim. At best, it seems to be a corruption/misunderstanding of a few older studies into brain development, ones which mentioned, or only used subjects under the age of, 25. But didnât make any grand claims about this being some developmental cut-off point, or the moment when your brain dings like a microwave, to let you know that itâs âdoneâ.
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Letâs be clear; more often than not, anyone invoking the âpeople under 25 years old donât have functional brainsâ argument, is doing so to support their position or beliefs, whatever they may be.
Thatâs why someone can be deemed too young to understand the decision to, say, get an abortion, and simultaneously be declared mature enough to have and raise a baby.
Or young men under 25 can be âtoo youngâ to be expected to stop themselves from committing crimes like sexual assault, but are definitely old enough to receive the full adult punishment for joining a terrorist organisation, or entering another country by non-legal means. And so on.