Kind of. Why wouldn't they?

People grow up. I had my crimes expunged after 13 months of probation as a teenager. I went to college, stopped hanging out with bad influences, realized and cultivated my potential, moved across the country. I guess internally I sometimes still think about the things I did, but I'm glad I don't have to answer for it to anybody else. It seems so long ago and so radically different from my life now that I can't relate to it and it definitely doesn't feel like it defines who I am. I'm glad I'm not a Supreme Court pick. I am more aware of how situations affect people. Or at least me. I could easily see myself hanging around the same people and getting into more trouble. But at the same time, there was a reason I wanted to leave so badly and there's a reason I rarely go back. Maybe that is what should define me.

Because a still developing pre-frontal cortex means young people (under 25) fucking suck at making decisions.

I would disagree with that. Being young does not inherently mean you make bad decisions. Some people make dumb decisions in their youth but no need to discriminate against a population based on age. Many people enlist in the military, start companies and/or start families before 25.

> Many people enlist in the military, start companies and/or start families before 25.

You're acting like any of these are inherently good decisions. They're not good or bad. They're just big and potentially very regrettable.

Starting a family before the age of 25 is an example of GOOD decision-making??

In many cases, yes. Why would it be unconditionally bad?

Because unlike a marriage, buying a house, or moving to the big city, having kids is a colossal life decision, with life-changing consequences that you can't reverse.

You can divorce, sell your house, file for bankruptcy, or move back to your parents' basement, but you can't unhave children after having them. You can't go on a break from your children, even to take care of your own physical, mental, or economic health.

Most people at 25 don't have any of that shit figured out yet, and in the modern day and age, they don't have the support network of grandparents, that prior generations had.

Because people change.

Who you were last year is not who you are now.

And because of that you should not judge me? This is fucking ridiculous.

You make the common mistake of disregarding time during this discussion. This is interesting and part of the reason why I think we as humans are still developing our concepts of time.

We still talk about people in absolutes, as if the labels we assign someone today are still relevant tomorrow.

Perhaps previous you should have been judged for your poor decisions. I don’t know.

Later you does not deserve to be beholden to those judgements though. People change.

Labeling someone something for life is a poor heuristic, probably more relevant when we died around 20, not now we live 4 of those short lives in one of our long lives.