In what way do we differ as an adult, from the time we were a small child?

[Alan McDougall]

In what way do we differ as adults, from the time we were a small children?

Edited December 27, 2013 by Alan McDougall

[hoola]

heightened global awareness via fewer pre-judgements attached to what things are

[Bill Angel]

Small children are more spontaneous, compared to adults.

[Alan McDougall]

Small children are more spontaneous, compared to adults.

 

In reality from the child we were,we have become a completely different physical entity, by the time we become a fully formed adult. Nearly every cell in our body has died and been replaced, except maybe brain neurons. However the atoms that held our being together have all been replaced over time. Even our consciousness is radically different, so are we really the same being, now as an adult, from the being we were as a child?

[michel123456]

In what way do we differ as adults, from the time we were a small children?

Puberty makes a change.

Money

Neural loss.

Experience.

Sex.

Food & drink..

 

Knowing the world, deception when you realize you have not enough money from dad & mom to live decently and you are condemned to work for all your life. Deception when you realize you will never understand the world (see above "neural loss"), deception when you realize you will never change it (see above "experience"), deception most generally as long as you continue aging (see above "sex"). Thanks to humanity you can forget all that and have a good time here eating and drinking if you are lucky enough and if that's allowed to you.

[michel123456]

I have the feeling I am not good at entertaining a conversation lately.

[Alan McDougall]

I have the feeling I am not good at entertaining a conversation lately.

 

I think with age we do get wiser and more knowledgeable, but our brains become less plastic and we resist change much more that we did as a child.

[michel123456]

Sure.

Also you get hair on your genitals.

Grey.

[pears]

Nearly every cell in our body has died and been replaced, except maybe brain neurons.

 

Oh that's interesting! I'd never heard that before (that brain neurons don't get replaced)

[Alan McDougall]

 

Oh that's interesting! I'd never heard that before (that brain neurons don't get replaced)

 

It has been a long held belief that brain cells are the only cells in the body that do not re- generate, however, recent studies suggest that this is not always true and this discovery might hold great promise for those who have damaged brains due to trauma.

[iNow]

While brain cells are not typically replaced when they die, it should be noted that new cells are growing and old cells dying each day through the process of elasticity. While not quite the same as the cell replacement every 7 years discussed above, it would be wrong to think that neurons in the cortex or R-complex sections are somehow static.

 

To the question in the thread title, adults are more shaped by their environment, whereas children are a closer representation of true human nature. Adults are more educated and aware, and better adapted to surviving their local environment. Children tend to be more honest and forthright with their thoughts, are generally better able to acquire new language skills, and tend to be more natural at scientific thinking and exploration than adults (who have had other behaviors and cultural norms reinforced in their place). There are the other obvious things like better fine motor control, abstract thinking, and hair in strange places and in strange colors.