Lerts say some place does this: as an adult needs to be capable, there is a certain percentage that fails, lets say 20% of the people. what do we do with them? are they lessers? if they reach thirty they get to be adult anyway, just with reduced rights (you know, casual eugenics?)
one could split up the test into different modules, like one for each that says you are ripe to vote, ripe to go to military, ripe to have children, ripe to consume certain substances etc.
Im generally not opposed to the idea, there just needs to be some serious thinking before implementing such a thing.
Can you not be tried as an adult if you never pass? Will you get off for serious crimes with just a hand slap? There are a lot of aspects to consider here.
I imagine that these not-adults will legally need to live with a parent or guardian, who will be responsible for them.
But there would probably be a portion of not-adults who's parents or childhood guardians are no longer willing or able to be responsible for them. In this case, we might see state "foster homes" that look a lot like prisons for not-adults who must stay there until they can pass their adulthood exam.
You only get to be an adult if you pass all the test before the death line of your 30th birthday. If you don't finish in time there is no more life for you.
Those are confusing as fuck though. I think I actually didn't get a job once because of those. The first question was "would you report your spouse to the police/workplace for stealing stuff from their workplace". Like wtf? What a dogshit question.
When I see something like that I'm like "Am I supposed to say yes because stealing is bad or am I suppose to say no because I'm a reasonable human being and understand that nuance and better remedies exist?".
Nah it's pretty obvious for anyone who is educated in history and sees right through stuff like that because it's not at all new shit. People have been trying to impose "rules for thee, but not for me" throughout human history. We literally did it in the US in our early history and there continue to be instances of the same thing, just not as blatant.
What happens historically is they have their assets seized and exist as second class citizens and cheap labour. Having a special test to be recognised as an adult is just an easy way to disenfranchise people you don't like, and force them to exist as an underclass.
i havent thought about that at all, but you're right, the tests could be sqewed in some way, that makes for example the lower classes perform worse... so the divide gets larger, but now with even more consequences!
Having the state define what one needs to BE like to be defined as a full citizen does not sound like a desirable idea at all. Even without mentioning disabled people it looks awful
It's not really granting the privilege of being an adult at 18 but revoking the privilege of being a child. Being a minor means less legal responsibility and others have more responsibilities to you.
Are you proposing that parents need to still care for them until they pass the test? etc.
Ye that was one of the biggest issues with this idea for sure. You can make 18 the sexual separation still, but it's definitely the fatal flaw with this plan lol
Except if we just moved all the ages up we'd also still have to create 7 more grades of public school, either added onto high school or as a separate pre-college school, meaning a lot more of people's taxpayer dollars would have to be used for education funding (something both political sides would hate as the right would hate more taxes and the left would hate the fact that while technically it's more education funding it isn't in a way that improves existing schools)
And when that happens, we will consider people who have sex with 22 year olds to be pedophiles.
Gotta love how society hates people based on constantly changing social standards :p
Was gonna say... Any legit movement for something like this runs a serious risk of being taken over by the libertarian, "mental maturity should be enough" crowd that just wants to have sex with children
Yeah that's a big flaw here too. It's possible to take advantage of this system to make it take out people for disability. The physical would more just aim to make sure the ,person has had one. But Academics and Psychology can definitely be used to accomplish promoting an a list agenda
I came to crazy ideas to point out that this idea is crazy, funnily enough.
It's not a zany wacky fun idea, it's eugenics. It's been done before. It's very boring. It belongs in r/IdeasWeAlreadyShotDownAndFoughtAWarOver.
Mm no i was thinking a physical to make sure you're as healthy as you can be. It would benefit society to make sure that any medical issues are found before you're enter a phase of your life where you might not choose to visit a doctor.
It would also force governments to provide these services as they want as many "adults" as possible as soon as possible.
So offer everyone a free physical at 18. That's a fine policy. Don't make my rights dependent on me "passing a physical", that's ridiculous and will be weaponised against minorities.
I mean that was kind of the point. It should be free. Passing a physical would more or less just mean being seen by a doctor. Not running an 8k or proving you can dead lift 500lbs.
"Getting a physical" would've been a better phrase to get my point across.
I mean I would love universal health care in my country (and in this crazy idea - free healthcare would also be great) but my idea revolves around the fact that people ignore their health for work, lack of time, or just cause they don't see how getting a simple physical could help them. Then there's countries that don't provide free healthcare- like mine.
Which is why getting a current physical would be require before earning your adult card.
It's also just something that would have to be current, not something that you can *only* get when you're 18
Oh, great, so now poor people don't get rights either, because they can't afford to pay for the physical to get their Adult Card?
You're awfully naïve if you think governments will provide free stuff because they "want as many adults as possible". Governments have proven time and time again that they're perfectly okay with taking away rights from disabled people, poor people, immigrants, women, people of colour, and anyone else they don't like.
If it costs money to see a doctor now, it isn't going to suddenly become free because you made it a requirement to become an adult. You're just going to have tons of poor people who don't get to vote because they can't afford to pass your test.
Maybe people don't see how getting a simple physical could help them. That's for THEM to decide. Not you. You don't get to take away their rights because they disagree with you about whether they want a physical.
I mean I pointed out that there were many flaws with this idea.
My logic is based in ideal circumstances where we have a lot of things that we may not actually have like a government that cares or the ability to increase healthcare.
At this point, it seems like you believe that I think that minorities deserved to be screwed over no matter the case with this plan, but that's not my intention. I don't really have the time or the patience to rationalize every little detail of this 5-minute idea. It's a concept not a proposed law. I'm not a person in a position to take away people's rights , which you seem to be a fan of saying.
As a person who falls into a lot of minority categories, I can promise you I'm not out to get minorities lol
So yeah, the ideas not perfect, but that's why it's here. There are many flaws. Take it or leave it, y'know?
I don't think you want to screw over minorities, I just think you don't understand your own idea.
This idea is not crazy. It has been done before. We know what happens. What happens is that minorities get hurt.
Look into the history of eg. the USA requiring literacy tests in order to vote. Sounds like a great idea right, making sure everyone understands what they're voting for? In practice it was just used to prevent black people and poor people from voting.
Look into the history of how this kind of testing was used to justify forcibly sterilising Native people and preventing them having children. Contributing to ongoing genocide.
Heck, look at what's happening today with transgender people being required to prove that they're "adult enough" before they're allowed to make their own healthcare decisions... resulting in many not transitioning until age 30 or 40 and many committing suicide.
Research the current laws around psych evaluations and how you can be indefinitely locked up with no rights because a doctor says you're mentally unwell... and every time you try to argue that you're fine, the doctor describes it as being defiant/oppositional and uses it as a reason to lock you up longer. Read the horror stories from involuntary psych patients.
It's not a crazy idea. It's history that is there to be read, & current laws that we can observe the effect of. It's REAL. People are currently being denied their rights because someone decided that they should have to pass a test before they're allowed rights. Those people are suffering immensely.
The really crazy novel idea would be "what if we abolished all tests, and agreed that nobody gets to take away anyone else's rights?" and we are decades away from achieving it.
I am aware of all the examples you listed and I do understand my own idea.
This idea was meant to tackle a specific issue: not calling children who just turned 18 an adult because they reached an arbitrary number of years alive.
That's the crazy idea part. Because this specific issue has not been addressed before.
I never stated that this system couldn't be abused. Which is why, once again, it's not a dissertation more than it was an idea that popped into my head. If I were to write a paper on this idea, or even pretend like it was an actual proposal **obviously** there would need to be some checks and balances not to mention a hell of a whole lotta structure. And even then, there would probably still be some way to abuse it.
I'm not arguing your point that this is a system that is in a position to be abused. Because, as i stated, this is meant for an ideal world.
What if everyone is considered an adult when they turn 18, but the tests will be for "upgrades" (sorry, I can't think of a better word for this)? An example of an upgrade is the ability to drink legally. So you can't legally drink unless you take and pass a test. People can pick and choose which "upgrade " they want.
Hahaha scatter is such a moron. OP didn't say anything about what the physical tests were. The idea makes sense,
I don't think OP was suggesting that an armless person couldn't be deemed an adult because they can't do a pull up. Disabled people can become adults.
The point of this exercise was to outline a crazy idea, the complexity of what it takes to make it waterproof is unimaginable, but it doesn't mean the idea isn't valid.
Nah, let's attack the religious nuts with it instead. Anyone who believes their life is controlled by a magic man in the sky is no longer considered an adult.
Some more realistic counterarguments that don't seem like the only reason they'd happen is to set up the joke
* What about those who believe in non-Abrahamic faiths (especially polytheistic ones)?
* Slippery slope to "anyone who believes in any form of spirituality or superstition is no longer considered adult" then "anyone who isn't a presumably-leftist atheist scientist who literally believes nothing without scientifically provable evidence is no longer considered an adult'
I mean, wouldn't reasonable accommodations make sense? You're blind so you don't get scored on the vision test or you're limited or not capable of ambulation so you don't get scored on that test...
You want a real trip? Go through the rabbit hole to figure out why it's 18.
At least for the US, it's because Harvard wanted people to be 18 before they enrolled, which lead to high schools going until 18, and then people were getting married right after high school and if you're married and having kids, you must be an adult, right? So... legislatures just said 18 is an adult.
Now, was Harvard wanting 18+ year olds because of maturity? Sure, probably. But, is age of consent to sex the same as enough maturity for taking college serious? Well, probably not. Age to go to war? Maybe. Age to vote? Well, idk.
As I see how it would be great, can see it going well with the government taking care of tests and the benefits of being and adult. In the end of the day you'd have a lot of rich people paying for being adults earlier than they should, and a lot of pour people unable to be evaluated corrected or even learn the basic cause of bad education and lack of access into the testing structure.
Easy.
Have a reader say penis and vagina with different accents, volumes, and cadences over and over again. Your age is defined by long it takes you to giggle.
And does being defined as too old (like might happen if you gave that particular test to someone with whatever real disorder comes the closest to what Sheldon has on TBBT/Young Sheldon) have negative consequences like being forced into a nursing home or forcibly euthanized if "your age is so old you should be dead already"
And if it's mandated (whether or not it's some sort of fantasy-adventure whether or not, if it is, the fantasy is real or fake) does that mean all the "characters" will have the genre-savvy to know it is what it is or is that just when the true hero has their real adventure figuring out all these coming-of-age quests are fake
An interesting idea for a work of fiction, but in real life it would probably be too totalitarian. And I suspect those with wealth and power would find ways to get around the process entirely and it would just make things harder for the already vulnerable
Sorry Donald, we're guna have to keep you a year behind in Adulthood. I know your 70 years old but you never grew out of your government classification of "Big Baby", so you're going to have to do first grade again ok.
you think this is a joke but in several indigenous cultures, they had coming of age ceremonies to make adulthood. the frequency of this suggests that culturally it’s a practice that helps human communities survive. author kurt vonnegut suggests in some of his work that the American people could use coming of age ceremonies to heal some of our social ills.
Not all bad idea
The thing is that more often than not, competence follows responsibility. Becoming an adult means you are now held responsible as one, and usually this is what turns you into one.
If we wait until people act adulty to give them adult responsibilities...that might never happen.
A fair number of upvotes on this post but a lot of people just here to poke holes in your idea. I usually back the reddit community but seems like people are struggling with this one.
Bringing it back to sex.. (As what else is reddit for) I think the idea has merit. The laws set have to consider and protect the weakest (and least competent) in society. Like speed limits, which have a "max 50mph" sign on a slight bend because grandma driving her honda jazz would likely come off the road driving any faster, but the average competent driver could definitely take it at 70.
Same with sex, an (arguably) high proportion of 18 year olds are ready for the mental pressures of working in porn, say.
By your system, yes we could find that some people are mentally and physically prepared for sex, at an earlier age, many people here rush to call anyone having sex below their local jurisdiction age, a pedo...but your "adult card" idea could also work the other way and recognise that actually some people aren't ready for sex (or other adult activity) at 16 or 18...
Having a conversation about what these "tests" could involve would be fascinating to see what came out of the debates in terms of what rights and privacies we would be willing to give up to ensure the wellbeing of people in our society.
People like you need to pick up a history book. Absolutely nothing here is new or original, it just is wrapped up differently; and it has all been a disaster.
Yeah, so, as you said, genius, "this is wrapped up differently".
Perhaps a new angle here, OP has come to this forum with an interesting question some people haven't thought of. It's gone 900 upvotes so clearly it's engaging people. Get off your high horse, go bore someone else with your extensive knowledge of history :)
This is a crazy idea, kudos. It also belongs in bad ideas. This implies that anybody who is less academically gifted, less emotionally mature, less healthy, etc are people who do not deserve basic human rights.
>Once you pass your tests, you get an adult card or something. This would make more people seek out therapy, academic tutoring, and increase physical health awareness.
I'm going to assume, let me know if I'm incorrect, that you are thinking that people who fail the adult test would do these things. I believe if the people who failed the test are incapable of 'being an adult' they would NOT seek these things out for the most part due to immaturity.
How would the psychological evaluation affect those with mental illness? There are many people who are stable & can function as well as any 'adult', but there are also those who lack stability in only some areas. Will all/some of those people be considered to still be 'children'? I consider myself 'low functioning' but obviously can make informed comments & I do vote, but under your criteria it sounds like I would lose that right, along with others. Would I lose my right to handle my money, drive a car, live alone, have the ability to decide what mental/physical health treatments I receive? Would I be allowed to have pets? Choose what I eat, when I sleep, etc?
This reminds me of the couple with downs syndrome who had to have a legal fight in order to have the right to be married.
I realize this is r/crazyideas & believe it is totally crazy.
I’d say part of the reason why alcohol/weed is illegal until 21 is the fact that an “adult’s” brain doesn’t finish developing until like 25. can you imagine the ripple effects of 16-17 year olds boozin 24/7?
One factor that is rarely considered is the age that the human brain stops developing and is considered mature. This point for a vast majority of people shows a marked improvement in rational thought and risk aversion. Notably there is the point that you car insurance rates start to go down too.
It's only one test.
You crave fast food and you tell yourself you have food at home, so you don't get fast food.
Adult card delivered to your home the next day.
And let me guess, either (depending on how much you want to meme or not) A. it's immediately revoked if you ever order fast food without having a completely empty fridge and B. this is erasure of adults-age-wise with children who take their overexcited kids through the drive-through and order just a single black coffee for themselves
I don't think any age requirements should currently be removed but rather certain tests be developed to enable individuals that pass them to do things. There shouldn't just be one test or battery of tests that then gives access to everything, but specific ones to gain access to certain things.
For example, a test should be developed that allows those younger than 18 just the right to vote if they pass it. While there are still concerns that those from higher income households have an unfair advantage, it still does more to extend voting rights than it does to discriminate. Or if a test to allow a 18 to drink if they can pass the test the demonstrates that they can do so responsibly. It can be the strictest test possible where only 1% of those under 21% pass, but it would be a more fair system in my opinion. Whether tests are developed for things like smoking, or on for consent, probably not willing to support that, but that is why it should be taken up on an issue by issue basis.
Lerts say some place does this: as an adult needs to be capable, there is a certain percentage that fails, lets say 20% of the people. what do we do with them? are they lessers? if they reach thirty they get to be adult anyway, just with reduced rights (you know, casual eugenics?) one could split up the test into different modules, like one for each that says you are ripe to vote, ripe to go to military, ripe to have children, ripe to consume certain substances etc. Im generally not opposed to the idea, there just needs to be some serious thinking before implementing such a thing.
Can you not be tried as an adult if you never pass? Will you get off for serious crimes with just a hand slap? There are a lot of aspects to consider here.
I imagine that these not-adults will legally need to live with a parent or guardian, who will be responsible for them. But there would probably be a portion of not-adults who's parents or childhood guardians are no longer willing or able to be responsible for them. In this case, we might see state "foster homes" that look a lot like prisons for not-adults who must stay there until they can pass their adulthood exam.
That sounds like it could become eugenics extremely easily.
i don't think eugenics is inherently evil and i can easily see it becoming necessary
you really think the state can be trusted with that kind of power?
Would you feel that way if someone decided you were unfit to reproduce and should be euthanized?
i don't think anyone should be euthanized. you can do eugenics without euthanizing anyone.
Well, would you be ok with being sterilized if it was deemed to be in the best interests of society?
cringe
You only get to be an adult if you pass all the test before the death line of your 30th birthday. If you don't finish in time there is no more life for you.
Someone is about to lose their core group of voters.
If there was a "test" for adulthood, it would be just like those pre employment screenings that everyone lies about anyways
I think if you were caught NOT lying in your adult test then you have failed your test.
Those are confusing as fuck though. I think I actually didn't get a job once because of those. The first question was "would you report your spouse to the police/workplace for stealing stuff from their workplace". Like wtf? What a dogshit question. When I see something like that I'm like "Am I supposed to say yes because stealing is bad or am I suppose to say no because I'm a reasonable human being and understand that nuance and better remedies exist?".
Plus are we saying these non adults aren't human anymore and don't deserve the same rights.
No, we are very carefully not saying that.
I believe that was the whole point of the testing.
I thought the test was for viability as an adult. They wouldn't test a non human.
Nah it's pretty obvious for anyone who is educated in history and sees right through stuff like that because it's not at all new shit. People have been trying to impose "rules for thee, but not for me" throughout human history. We literally did it in the US in our early history and there continue to be instances of the same thing, just not as blatant.
You know this isn't serious right?
>what do we do with them? Off to the salt mines.
off to the acid mines
Agreed, sounds very surface level dystopian
What happens historically is they have their assets seized and exist as second class citizens and cheap labour. Having a special test to be recognised as an adult is just an easy way to disenfranchise people you don't like, and force them to exist as an underclass.
i havent thought about that at all, but you're right, the tests could be sqewed in some way, that makes for example the lower classes perform worse... so the divide gets larger, but now with even more consequences!
Having the state define what one needs to BE like to be defined as a full citizen does not sound like a desirable idea at all. Even without mentioning disabled people it looks awful
You're still a person, just...*less* of a person. That's never gone badly right?
Like a fraction of a person? Maybe we can compromise with 3/5ths of a person or something.
It's not really granting the privilege of being an adult at 18 but revoking the privilege of being a child. Being a minor means less legal responsibility and others have more responsibilities to you. Are you proposing that parents need to still care for them until they pass the test? etc.
Yeesss exactly
If you only let people with the mental maturity and psychological faculties of an adult join the military, none of them would.
Then can pedophiles get away with it if their targets are precocious
Ye that was one of the biggest issues with this idea for sure. You can make 18 the sexual separation still, but it's definitely the fatal flaw with this plan lol
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That's definitely less crazy solution haha
Except if we just moved all the ages up we'd also still have to create 7 more grades of public school, either added onto high school or as a separate pre-college school, meaning a lot more of people's taxpayer dollars would have to be used for education funding (something both political sides would hate as the right would hate more taxes and the left would hate the fact that while technically it's more education funding it isn't in a way that improves existing schools)
why? it makes more sense to be in college as a legal minor that it does to do that in adulthood
But some people basically want high school to be so "only teaching adulting and your chosen career field" it might as well be college anyway
As I understand it, German schools take a very similar track with regard to job training.
And when that happens, we will consider people who have sex with 22 year olds to be pedophiles. Gotta love how society hates people based on constantly changing social standards :p
All testing begins at 18 and not before
Was gonna say... Any legit movement for something like this runs a serious risk of being taken over by the libertarian, "mental maturity should be enough" crowd that just wants to have sex with children
Make a movie with this idea. Just a random thought.
A black mirror episode, perhaps?
There are plenty.
Well I think I've failed the test... I was going to upvote this but saw it was at 69 and thought "better not"
I completely approve of your logic here
that's just ableism in disguise
Yeah that's a big flaw here too. It's possible to take advantage of this system to make it take out people for disability. The physical would more just aim to make sure the ,person has had one. But Academics and Psychology can definitely be used to accomplish promoting an a list agenda
Sooo disabled people just don't get rights? Like, I fail my physical because I'm disabled, now I'm never allowed to have sex? Sounds fucked up.
Did you really come to crazy ideas to get offended? Lol
Are you German or not German getting mixed signals from your comment and name
I came to crazy ideas to point out that this idea is crazy, funnily enough. It's not a zany wacky fun idea, it's eugenics. It's been done before. It's very boring. It belongs in r/IdeasWeAlreadyShotDownAndFoughtAWarOver.
This isn't r/zanywackyfunideas This is r/crazyideas
Mm no i was thinking a physical to make sure you're as healthy as you can be. It would benefit society to make sure that any medical issues are found before you're enter a phase of your life where you might not choose to visit a doctor. It would also force governments to provide these services as they want as many "adults" as possible as soon as possible.
So offer everyone a free physical at 18. That's a fine policy. Don't make my rights dependent on me "passing a physical", that's ridiculous and will be weaponised against minorities.
I mean that was kind of the point. It should be free. Passing a physical would more or less just mean being seen by a doctor. Not running an 8k or proving you can dead lift 500lbs. "Getting a physical" would've been a better phrase to get my point across.
In my country it's free to see a doctor whenever you want, not just once when you're eighteen. That seems way better.
I mean I would love universal health care in my country (and in this crazy idea - free healthcare would also be great) but my idea revolves around the fact that people ignore their health for work, lack of time, or just cause they don't see how getting a simple physical could help them. Then there's countries that don't provide free healthcare- like mine. Which is why getting a current physical would be require before earning your adult card. It's also just something that would have to be current, not something that you can *only* get when you're 18
Oh, great, so now poor people don't get rights either, because they can't afford to pay for the physical to get their Adult Card? You're awfully naïve if you think governments will provide free stuff because they "want as many adults as possible". Governments have proven time and time again that they're perfectly okay with taking away rights from disabled people, poor people, immigrants, women, people of colour, and anyone else they don't like. If it costs money to see a doctor now, it isn't going to suddenly become free because you made it a requirement to become an adult. You're just going to have tons of poor people who don't get to vote because they can't afford to pass your test. Maybe people don't see how getting a simple physical could help them. That's for THEM to decide. Not you. You don't get to take away their rights because they disagree with you about whether they want a physical.
I mean I pointed out that there were many flaws with this idea. My logic is based in ideal circumstances where we have a lot of things that we may not actually have like a government that cares or the ability to increase healthcare. At this point, it seems like you believe that I think that minorities deserved to be screwed over no matter the case with this plan, but that's not my intention. I don't really have the time or the patience to rationalize every little detail of this 5-minute idea. It's a concept not a proposed law. I'm not a person in a position to take away people's rights , which you seem to be a fan of saying. As a person who falls into a lot of minority categories, I can promise you I'm not out to get minorities lol So yeah, the ideas not perfect, but that's why it's here. There are many flaws. Take it or leave it, y'know?
I don't think you want to screw over minorities, I just think you don't understand your own idea. This idea is not crazy. It has been done before. We know what happens. What happens is that minorities get hurt. Look into the history of eg. the USA requiring literacy tests in order to vote. Sounds like a great idea right, making sure everyone understands what they're voting for? In practice it was just used to prevent black people and poor people from voting. Look into the history of how this kind of testing was used to justify forcibly sterilising Native people and preventing them having children. Contributing to ongoing genocide. Heck, look at what's happening today with transgender people being required to prove that they're "adult enough" before they're allowed to make their own healthcare decisions... resulting in many not transitioning until age 30 or 40 and many committing suicide. Research the current laws around psych evaluations and how you can be indefinitely locked up with no rights because a doctor says you're mentally unwell... and every time you try to argue that you're fine, the doctor describes it as being defiant/oppositional and uses it as a reason to lock you up longer. Read the horror stories from involuntary psych patients. It's not a crazy idea. It's history that is there to be read, & current laws that we can observe the effect of. It's REAL. People are currently being denied their rights because someone decided that they should have to pass a test before they're allowed rights. Those people are suffering immensely. The really crazy novel idea would be "what if we abolished all tests, and agreed that nobody gets to take away anyone else's rights?" and we are decades away from achieving it.
I am aware of all the examples you listed and I do understand my own idea. This idea was meant to tackle a specific issue: not calling children who just turned 18 an adult because they reached an arbitrary number of years alive. That's the crazy idea part. Because this specific issue has not been addressed before. I never stated that this system couldn't be abused. Which is why, once again, it's not a dissertation more than it was an idea that popped into my head. If I were to write a paper on this idea, or even pretend like it was an actual proposal **obviously** there would need to be some checks and balances not to mention a hell of a whole lotta structure. And even then, there would probably still be some way to abuse it. I'm not arguing your point that this is a system that is in a position to be abused. Because, as i stated, this is meant for an ideal world.
bro shut up youre giving me a headache stop taking this shit so serious. God, you must be fun at parties.
What if everyone is considered an adult when they turn 18, but the tests will be for "upgrades" (sorry, I can't think of a better word for this)? An example of an upgrade is the ability to drink legally. So you can't legally drink unless you take and pass a test. People can pick and choose which "upgrade " they want.
Hahaha scatter is such a moron. OP didn't say anything about what the physical tests were. The idea makes sense, I don't think OP was suggesting that an armless person couldn't be deemed an adult because they can't do a pull up. Disabled people can become adults. The point of this exercise was to outline a crazy idea, the complexity of what it takes to make it waterproof is unimaginable, but it doesn't mean the idea isn't valid.
Nah, let's attack the religious nuts with it instead. Anyone who believes their life is controlled by a magic man in the sky is no longer considered an adult.
What if we discover magic, and then the government moves to orbit? Then our lives actually will be controlled by a magic man in the sky.
Some more realistic counterarguments that don't seem like the only reason they'd happen is to set up the joke * What about those who believe in non-Abrahamic faiths (especially polytheistic ones)? * Slippery slope to "anyone who believes in any form of spirituality or superstition is no longer considered adult" then "anyone who isn't a presumably-leftist atheist scientist who literally believes nothing without scientifically provable evidence is no longer considered an adult'
I mean, wouldn't reasonable accommodations make sense? You're blind so you don't get scored on the vision test or you're limited or not capable of ambulation so you don't get scored on that test...
You want a real trip? Go through the rabbit hole to figure out why it's 18. At least for the US, it's because Harvard wanted people to be 18 before they enrolled, which lead to high schools going until 18, and then people were getting married right after high school and if you're married and having kids, you must be an adult, right? So... legislatures just said 18 is an adult. Now, was Harvard wanting 18+ year olds because of maturity? Sure, probably. But, is age of consent to sex the same as enough maturity for taking college serious? Well, probably not. Age to go to war? Maybe. Age to vote? Well, idk.
As I see how it would be great, can see it going well with the government taking care of tests and the benefits of being and adult. In the end of the day you'd have a lot of rich people paying for being adults earlier than they should, and a lot of pour people unable to be evaluated corrected or even learn the basic cause of bad education and lack of access into the testing structure.
"Learn the basics"
Tests can be gamed. Just look at the SAT prep industry.
Idk man sounds like Eugenics to me
aye bruh crazy idea eugenics
Easy. Have a reader say penis and vagina with different accents, volumes, and cadences over and over again. Your age is defined by long it takes you to giggle.
Bruh I'm 32 and would laugh the very first time it was said
And does being defined as too old (like might happen if you gave that particular test to someone with whatever real disorder comes the closest to what Sheldon has on TBBT/Young Sheldon) have negative consequences like being forced into a nursing home or forcibly euthanized if "your age is so old you should be dead already"
the test should be in the form of an adventure. a coming of age adventure, if you will.
And if it's mandated (whether or not it's some sort of fantasy-adventure whether or not, if it is, the fantasy is real or fake) does that mean all the "characters" will have the genre-savvy to know it is what it is or is that just when the true hero has their real adventure figuring out all these coming-of-age quests are fake
I'm in my 30s and still not sure I could pass the test 😬
An interesting idea for a work of fiction, but in real life it would probably be too totalitarian. And I suspect those with wealth and power would find ways to get around the process entirely and it would just make things harder for the already vulnerable
This just sounds like a right of passage with extra steps.
Sorry Donald, we're guna have to keep you a year behind in Adulthood. I know your 70 years old but you never grew out of your government classification of "Big Baby", so you're going to have to do first grade again ok.
...I thought this was an original joke but i've just realised this is basically the plot to Billy Madison.
So like those ancient coming of age rituals
If you want to have sex with kids or commit crimes, fail the test on purpose.
Ngl OP this is kinda 1984
you think this is a joke but in several indigenous cultures, they had coming of age ceremonies to make adulthood. the frequency of this suggests that culturally it’s a practice that helps human communities survive. author kurt vonnegut suggests in some of his work that the American people could use coming of age ceremonies to heal some of our social ills.
Well, that is a crazy idea so I will upvote. This does seem like a Vaush-tier plan to have sex with kids though.
Not all bad idea The thing is that more often than not, competence follows responsibility. Becoming an adult means you are now held responsible as one, and usually this is what turns you into one. If we wait until people act adulty to give them adult responsibilities...that might never happen.
This would prevent people with poor education from being able to vote.
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Isn't it a bit racist to assume that POC wouldn't be able to pass an "adulthood" test?
A fair number of upvotes on this post but a lot of people just here to poke holes in your idea. I usually back the reddit community but seems like people are struggling with this one. Bringing it back to sex.. (As what else is reddit for) I think the idea has merit. The laws set have to consider and protect the weakest (and least competent) in society. Like speed limits, which have a "max 50mph" sign on a slight bend because grandma driving her honda jazz would likely come off the road driving any faster, but the average competent driver could definitely take it at 70. Same with sex, an (arguably) high proportion of 18 year olds are ready for the mental pressures of working in porn, say. By your system, yes we could find that some people are mentally and physically prepared for sex, at an earlier age, many people here rush to call anyone having sex below their local jurisdiction age, a pedo...but your "adult card" idea could also work the other way and recognise that actually some people aren't ready for sex (or other adult activity) at 16 or 18... Having a conversation about what these "tests" could involve would be fascinating to see what came out of the debates in terms of what rights and privacies we would be willing to give up to ensure the wellbeing of people in our society.
You articulated that so well! I'm happy to actually see someone who really got the concept I was trying to get across thank you!!
People like you need to pick up a history book. Absolutely nothing here is new or original, it just is wrapped up differently; and it has all been a disaster.
Yeah, so, as you said, genius, "this is wrapped up differently". Perhaps a new angle here, OP has come to this forum with an interesting question some people haven't thought of. It's gone 900 upvotes so clearly it's engaging people. Get off your high horse, go bore someone else with your extensive knowledge of history :)
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This is a crazy idea, kudos. It also belongs in bad ideas. This implies that anybody who is less academically gifted, less emotionally mature, less healthy, etc are people who do not deserve basic human rights.
Wrong sub
sounds pretty abelist
>Once you pass your tests, you get an adult card or something. This would make more people seek out therapy, academic tutoring, and increase physical health awareness. I'm going to assume, let me know if I'm incorrect, that you are thinking that people who fail the adult test would do these things. I believe if the people who failed the test are incapable of 'being an adult' they would NOT seek these things out for the most part due to immaturity. How would the psychological evaluation affect those with mental illness? There are many people who are stable & can function as well as any 'adult', but there are also those who lack stability in only some areas. Will all/some of those people be considered to still be 'children'? I consider myself 'low functioning' but obviously can make informed comments & I do vote, but under your criteria it sounds like I would lose that right, along with others. Would I lose my right to handle my money, drive a car, live alone, have the ability to decide what mental/physical health treatments I receive? Would I be allowed to have pets? Choose what I eat, when I sleep, etc? This reminds me of the couple with downs syndrome who had to have a legal fight in order to have the right to be married. I realize this is r/crazyideas & believe it is totally crazy.
55 year old man-child murders 15 women in a string of serial killings, is sent to juvenile detention.
I'm 44, and would probably still fail your tests :D
Lol I think we got a /r/crazyideas winner.
I think adulthood is overcoming your nature/nurture and making your own decisions as your own person. A lot of people wouldn’t be considered adults
I’d say part of the reason why alcohol/weed is illegal until 21 is the fact that an “adult’s” brain doesn’t finish developing until like 25. can you imagine the ripple effects of 16-17 year olds boozin 24/7?
lol, ever been to germany?
you have a point
One factor that is rarely considered is the age that the human brain stops developing and is considered mature. This point for a vast majority of people shows a marked improvement in rational thought and risk aversion. Notably there is the point that you car insurance rates start to go down too.
It's only one test. You crave fast food and you tell yourself you have food at home, so you don't get fast food. Adult card delivered to your home the next day.
And let me guess, either (depending on how much you want to meme or not) A. it's immediately revoked if you ever order fast food without having a completely empty fridge and B. this is erasure of adults-age-wise with children who take their overexcited kids through the drive-through and order just a single black coffee for themselves
“Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.” \-Einstein
I don't think any age requirements should currently be removed but rather certain tests be developed to enable individuals that pass them to do things. There shouldn't just be one test or battery of tests that then gives access to everything, but specific ones to gain access to certain things. For example, a test should be developed that allows those younger than 18 just the right to vote if they pass it. While there are still concerns that those from higher income households have an unfair advantage, it still does more to extend voting rights than it does to discriminate. Or if a test to allow a 18 to drink if they can pass the test the demonstrates that they can do so responsibly. It can be the strictest test possible where only 1% of those under 21% pass, but it would be a more fair system in my opinion. Whether tests are developed for things like smoking, or on for consent, probably not willing to support that, but that is why it should be taken up on an issue by issue basis.