FYE and The Tragedy of Perpetual Adolescence

[Three]

While I was waiting to get my car fixed today, I decided to spend my waiting time by walking through a nearby shopping mall that was located just across the street.

Walking through shopping malls is something I do quite regularly and I'm not sure why. There's something about the atmosphere that seems to promote contemplation within me as I feel like I'm viewing things through the unfamiliar and analytical lense of an anthropologist who's just visited an foreign society. Or, now that I think of it, it could have more to do with viewing things through eyes that have went through the permanent corrective laser surgery operation of philosophy.

Either way, I made a startling connection while I was in a store called FYE. FYE, for those who don't know is a store that sells a vast variety of CD's, DVD's and electronic accessories. Or, at least that's half of what fills the shelves. The other half is merchandise which consists of things like collectible figures, pillows, key chains, etc, of movie and tv characters like Batman and Freddy Krueger.

In other words, it's a freakin toy store and that's what really jolted my fascination, and not just that it's a toy store, but that it is a toy store essentially for adults, as the people I normally see in there are teens and adults.

I never really thought much about it before, but now that I think about it, that's actually rather strange since toys are essentially something that is ideally replaced with more fulfilling and challenging endeavors that require so much more creativity and work. Not that I'm saying adults shouldn't play, but merely that the way in which we play should change and adjust to accommodate our psychological growth.

Then a depressing thought crossed my mind, which is that people, psychologically, just aren't growing. It's not a new thought, but it is an idea that I think really made the transition from something that I "got" in my head to something that I felt deep within the marrow of my bones and in my heart. I got goosebumps and even was on the verge of tears, knowing that what I was beholding was the market essentially adjusting to meet unmet childhood needs and fatherless homes that have left people in a perpetual state of adolescence.

This is very consistent with the statistics of how many people suffer from adverse childhood experiences, which can be found of acestudy.org. In addition, I'm reminded of an observation that philosopher Stefan Molyneux made in his popular podcast Why Men Don't Want to get Married. The observation was that, as a result of men being in the humiliating position of being told lies through the anti male propaganda that comes from modern feminism that portrays single mother's as competent and heroic, while fathers and men are at best an optional burden, men have opted to forgo marriage all together. As a result, the market has adjusted to the propaganda, since men have more disposable income that they're not spending on a family, which is why you see so much porn and other stuff which escapes my memory. Possibly, the knife shop that I saw in the mall that sells an arsenal of impractical blades and weapons like swords and ninja stars, which had a sign outside the door that said "It's simple. Buy him a knife. Dad's dig knifes." Presumably, because men are just such simple, medieval minded creatures?


Another factor possibly involved with the abundant number of toys could be the growing number of consumers who are buying, or watching for free, digital media on the internet. But, that would make another discussion altogether.

In conclusion, this experience has certainly opened my heart towards those who have been damned to the limbo of perpetual adolescence as well as strengthened my own determination to grow in order to thrive above and to experience a life that transcends what tragically seems to be the psychological growth ceiling in today's society..

[Marshall B]

Great post. I guess we are all still stuck in High school. Those are the dorks right? Then for the jocks sports are another form of it. Not playing but endlessly watching sportcenter, ESPN, fantasy football etc. Those sports stores in malls where grown ass adults are buying jerseys of dudes younger than them. Creepy shit really. That's all the guys I used to hang with through my 20's. None of them have kids, married etc. No desire to either. Then there's NPR and politics for the people who really care about important issues in the world.....

Philoso what?

[Crallask]

Can someone go into greater detail as to what "Perpetual Adolescence" is over adulthood?

 

What's the meaningful definition of adulthood in this case?

[BD91]

Do you figure this concept extends into video games?

 

I play a couple of games, but usually not until I'm finished up with my work and priorities for the day. But, a few of my friends seem to spend every waking moment of their free time in really long-term games (World of Warcraft, The Elder Scrolls Online, and Diablo 3). I was actually at my buddies house the other day and he showed me his new character in Diablo 3 and while it was entertaining for about 5 seconds it started to seem so lame because the character was so over-powered compared to the AI enemies that his character barely ever even took damage; when he let me play I took down a group of 20 enemies while we were having a conversation and my eyes weren't even on the screen half the time. It boggled my mind that he could spend and this is verbatim 10 hours playing Diablo and on Skype with my group of friends that play it.

 

I can't really think of anything I'd want to do for 10 hours non-stop, let alone a video game that presents 0% of a challenge.

[Three]

Great post. I guess we are all still stuck in High school. Those are the dorks right? Then for the jocks sports are another form of it. Not playing but endlessly watching sportcenter, ESPN, fantasy football etc. Those sports stores in malls where grown ass adults are buying jerseys of dudes younger than them. Creepy shit really. That's all the guys I used to hang with through my 20's. None of them have kids, married etc. No desire to either. Then there's NPR and politics for the people who really care about important issues in the world.....

Philoso what?

Hey, I appreciate your feedback. I certainly am not as mature as I'd like to be, but I'm working towards it

 

 

 

Can someone go into greater detail as to what "Perpetual Adolescence" is over adulthood?

 

What's the meaningful definition of adulthood in this case?

 

Hey, Crallask. Great question. I'm not entirely sure what a meaningful definition of adulthood would be, but I do have the sense that it would involve having ones special childhood needs met. 

 

Here is a perspective that I think contains some useful information that might move us closer to an answer. 

 

 

 http://sfhelp.org/gwc/maturity.htm.

 

 

 

 

http://sfhelp.org/parent/d_needs.htm

 

 

 

 

Do you figure this concept extends into video games?

 

I play a couple of games, but usually not until I'm finished up with my work and priorities for the day. But, a few of my friends seem to spend every waking moment of their free time in really long-term games (World of Warcraft, The Elder Scrolls Online, and Diablo 3). I was actually at my buddies house the other day and he showed me his new character in Diablo 3 and while it was entertaining for about 5 seconds it started to seem so lame because the character was so over-powered compared to the AI enemies that his character barely ever even took damage; when he let me play I took down a group of 20 enemies while we were having a conversation and my eyes weren't even on the screen half the time. It boggled my mind that he could spend and this is verbatim 10 hours playing Diablo and on Skype with my group of friends that play it.

 

I can't really think of anything I'd want to do for 10 hours non-stop, let alone a video game that presents 0% of a challenge.

 

I think games are fun and have been playing Knights of the Old Republic recently. So, no it can't have anything to do with that. Just kidding, I think that it's likely that some people attempt to meet unmet needs through video games, i.e video game addiction. This is the essence of addiction. 

 

Thanks for your feed back.