Learnings

We're all familiar with the idea that children, as they grow, reach various stages of development, where they are suddenly able to make quantum leaps -- standing, walking, talking, reading, and so on.

We are less accustomed to thinking that adults may continue along this development trajectory, albeit incrementally as opposed to exponentially, but there's plenty of science that says we do.

In this context, do older people become wiser?

Not always. But sometimes. Do I have a theory? (Does a hurricane have wind?)

Many adults are so busy maintaining their hegemony over children that they essentially revert to a childish state themselves. I see parents all the time fighting battles with their kids, asserting power over them, using their size advantage to frighten and even physically intimidate children.

In order to keep developing, I suspect, humans need to transcend this kind of behavioral error and adopt smarter methods of raising our young. I'm not talking about turning into the kind of parent who negotiates with their kids or tries to become their best friend.

To place an exclamation point behind this issue, I trust that any of my kids will attest I am an authoritarian Dad. They know the lines that must not be crossed. Beyond that, I try to never sweat the small stuff.

Now, lest a careless reader misconstrue my argument here, I am not asserting that I am a wiser adult than any other person my age. I don't think I am. Rather, I'm trying to figure out how to continue developing at an age when I see others fighting change at all costs. Maybe, if I'm lucky, I can apply my prodigious experience as a father to promote the emotional and intellectual growth to reach the next stages of development appropriate for a man my age.

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