- Jun 4, 2012
- 25,659
- 15,692
Some of the things people are mentioning here do have an impact...but mainly the changes in young men come down to two things. Testosterone and cognitive development.
At 16-22, the brain is not fully formed in males. Myelin has not finished being layered onto neurons and the last part of the brain to be fully connected is the prefrontal cortex, which controls decision making and processing consequence etc. Quite simply, teenage boys and young men are using different parts of their brains more for certain decisions and actions, and with certain split decision choices they are wired to be more reckless.
Then add in higher testosterone which is the precursor to aggressive behaviour. You really do mellow with age, and you use your brain differently. If you add in a deeper grasp of mortality, not feeling that old age is so far away etc, it adds to this by making you more appreciative of life.
But overall, it's just testosterone and myelin that are the two most key factors.
At 16-22, the brain is not fully formed in males. Myelin has not finished being layered onto neurons and the last part of the brain to be fully connected is the prefrontal cortex, which controls decision making and processing consequence etc. Quite simply, teenage boys and young men are using different parts of their brains more for certain decisions and actions, and with certain split decision choices they are wired to be more reckless.
Then add in higher testosterone which is the precursor to aggressive behaviour. You really do mellow with age, and you use your brain differently. If you add in a deeper grasp of mortality, not feeling that old age is so far away etc, it adds to this by making you more appreciative of life.
But overall, it's just testosterone and myelin that are the two most key factors.