# Adults really more childish than in years past? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 1, 2011, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adults-really-more-childish-than-in-years-past/594862 "2011-09-01T17:45:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Crazyhorse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crazyhorse/32/31_2.png) [@Crazyhorse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crazyhorse)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2011, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adults-really-more-childish-than-in-years-past/594862/61 "2011-09-01T20:55:50Z")
Who would you rather have flying one our military drones: someone who can defeat the entire Russian Air Force while playing “Top Gun 3D” or someone who plays a mean game of golf? Video games are also a profession, both competitions and tournaments, and product endorsements, professional gaming systems (I doubt there is much of a market among the 7-12 year old demographic for $6,000.00 gaming systems), wagering, the private sales of accounts, items, etc. from within the video games it is a multi billion dollar industry, and I don’t mean just the making of the computers or the game software, just from playing the games as a participant. There are very few children to be found among the millions filling a Vegas casino on any given night. Most of those games are video games the payoff is in real money. Today many video games pay in real money, have virtual currencies in-game that translate directly to US dollars, have societies, tournaments, jobs (yes, jobs, inside a video game where you do work in the game, and get paid outside in real dollars). They always say the dream is to make your hobby into your work… ---
**Author:** ![misling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3ab097/32.png) [@misling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/misling)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2011, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adults-really-more-childish-than-in-years-past/594862/62 "2011-09-01T21:04:27Z")
> [@Crazyhorse](#): > > They always say the dream is to make your hobby into your work… I’d have to disagree with this - the whole point of hobbies is they are voluntary, and that’s part of what makes them fun. If I got a job doing my hobby, then my hobbies would be, um, WORK! :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2011, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adults-really-more-childish-than-in-years-past/594862/63 "2011-09-01T21:05:30Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > Your continued references to “mommy” and calling me a child when I’ve twice pointed out to you that I’m screwing with you for my own enjoyment says more about your reading skills than it does about my maturity (or mental health for that matter). A moderator has been in here and told you to tone it down, **Justin** — and “screwing with people for your own enjoyment” is called trolling, and you know that it’s against the rules. Stop it now, please. ---
**Author:** ![Crazyhorse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crazyhorse/32/31_2.png) [@Crazyhorse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crazyhorse)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2011, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adults-really-more-childish-than-in-years-past/594862/64 "2011-09-01T21:10:44Z")
> [@misling](#): > > I’d have to disagree with this - the whole point of hobbies is they are voluntary, and that’s part of what makes them fun. If I got a job doing my hobby, then my hobbies would be, um, WORK! :smack: Ok, then the dream is choose a profession that’s something you like doing anyway. In either case (especially with internet gaming and the ability to earn a living with the skills entailed, but not just because of that), video games aren’t ‘immature’. If one is making a living from playing them that is even more obvious - but even as a hobby it’s absolutely no less ‘mature’ than cards, board games, charades, etc. In the case of online games, they also serve as a venue for social interaction, much like a message board does. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2011, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adults-really-more-childish-than-in-years-past/594862/65 "2011-09-01T21:23:42Z")
> [@Ellen\_Cherry](#): > > A moderator has been in here and told you to tone it down, **Justin** — and “screwing with people for your own enjoyment” is called trolling, and you know that it’s against the rules. Stop it now, please. Poor choice of words on my part then. I was being creative in my attacks on **Revenge** ’s points. I do so enjoy that **Revenge** called me a basement-dwelling mama’s boy and mentally ill with no slapdown from the mods though. Crackerjack job you guys are doing. ---
**Author:** ![BlackKnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eb8c5e/32.png) [@BlackKnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlackKnight)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2011, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adults-really-more-childish-than-in-years-past/594862/66 "2011-09-01T21:30:35Z")
There’s nothing inherently childish or adult about any form of art or entertainment. There are plenty of books that require an adult mindset to enjoy. They are routinely outsold by bodice-rippers, read by ostensible “adults”. Many video games are more adult than many best-selling books. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2011, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adults-really-more-childish-than-in-years-past/594862/67 "2011-09-01T21:54:43Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > I do so enjoy that **Revenge** called me a basement-dwelling mama’s boy and mentally ill with no slapdown from the mods though. Crackerjack job you guys are doing. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Rocza](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ce7236/32.png) [@Rocza](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rocza)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2011, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adults-really-more-childish-than-in-years-past/594862/68 "2011-09-01T22:04:17Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > I know it’s not just video games, but if you ever get a geezer talking shit about “kids these days”, one of the first things they mention, without fail, will be video games. And it’s never anything about the games themselves. It’s that they exist and adults play them and that’s so childish. My MIL brought this up ALL the time when criticizing her son. It became unrelenting (and amazingly) critical when she started bringing it up with regard to our first grader. She honestly and sincerely felt that this was hurting our child (and almost abusive) to let her play kiddie-video games. She shut right up ever since her son pointed out that she spent **hours** a day (she’s retired) playing Spider Solitaire but she first tried to argue that it didn’t count because it was really solitaire which is really a card game and so didn’t count. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Bri2k](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/48db29/32.png) [@Bri2k](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bri2k)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2011, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adults-really-more-childish-than-in-years-past/594862/69 "2011-09-01T22:04:45Z")
My company’s dress code is “business casual” which I’ve since learned is code for “we won’t pay you enough to afford a nice suit.” As to the idea that adults have childish past-times, I think this is bunk. When you get right down to it, almost any hobby or past-time outside of drinking or sex can be considered childish. Like to play sports? Don’t kids play sports too, making that childish? Same goes for riding your bike or playing games, video or otherwise. I like to build models. Granted, kids build or used to build models too. But I don’t take a childish approach to it. I take a lot of care in building them and I like to take the kit parts and use them to make something completely different. A kid will build the kit as is, often with little concern for how it’ll look when finished. The difference is we might still have past-times similar to those of children, but we take a more mature approach to them. Bri2k ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2011, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adults-really-more-childish-than-in-years-past/594862/70 "2011-09-01T22:24:01Z")
I do think adults are taking longer to do “adult” things like marrying, starting families, and buying property. When my parents were my age, they already had four kids (one adopted) and had already bought and sold one house. I’m still single, childless, and renting. And I do dress in a way that’s more casual. My mother was all about pumps, hose, and shoulder-padded Claire Huxtable attire. I went to work today in jeans and scuffed up cowboy boots. I refuse to have corns and bunions. I haven’t worn hose in years. But I’m much more worldly than my parents were when they were my age. I’m much better informed about government and current events, for instance. And I regularly stimulate my brain, constantly learning skills. I have moved to diverse settings multiple times, whereas my xenophobic father would never consider moving to a multicultural place. If the place doesn’t have a Piccadilly Cafeteria, he doesn’t want to live there! Young adults today aren’t like that. I’m not saying they are necessarily more adventurous, but they are more open-minded and adaptable, I think. Those are mature qualities. ---
**Author:** ![CrazyCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@CrazyCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrazyCatLady)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2011, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adults-really-more-childish-than-in-years-past/594862/71 "2011-09-01T22:28:21Z")
> [@ITR\_champion](#): > > I would actually argue that model railroading is a very mature hobby. It requires and builds extreme care, patience, and aesthetic sense, the very things that are missing from much of today’s entertainment. Every hobby develops some sort of attribute that’s of use in the outside world. FPS video and computer games, for instance, develop the exact sort of eye-hand coordination used in all the various -oscopy medical procedures and robotic surgeries. But hey, who needs something childish like the ability to get a colonoscopy done faster when you could be doing something mature like playing with toy trains? ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2011, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adults-really-more-childish-than-in-years-past/594862/72 "2011-09-01T23:56:03Z")
If someone pursues an activity to the exclusion of all other activities, that’s considered childish, unless it’s a “business” activity, in which case that person is considered a real go getter. Yes, there are gamers who game for 16 or 18 hours a day, if left to their own devices. Most gamers, though, will game for fewer hours than the average person watches TV. Some game only once or twice a week, some game for a couple of hours every day. Most adult gamers hold down a job, or are in school, or are looking for a job. And most of us do other things for recreation. I read, sew, knit, crochet, cook, socialize (with non gamers, even!), and renovate a couple of houses in my spare time. On the other hand, I haven’t watched TV since March or April. Video gaming, if it’s serious rather than casual gaming, generally does take some planning. If it’s a multiplayer game, it’s going to require some scheduling and compromise. Even if it’s a single player game, the player has to decide which sort of character s/he wants to build, in some games. If I want to start another game of Arcanum, I have to figure out whether I’m going to be a scientician or magician, and which technical skills or schools of magic this particular character will learn, because no one character can learn them all. And multiplayer games will usually require that the gamer make similar choices as to what skills to learn and what attributes to build. ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2011, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adults-really-more-childish-than-in-years-past/594862/73 "2011-09-02T01:00:01Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > Poor choice of words on my part then. I was being creative in my attacks on **Revenge** ’s points. > > I do so enjoy that **Revenge** called me a basement-dwelling mama’s boy and mentally ill with no slapdown from the mods though. Crackerjack job you guys are doing. He received no slap-down because he never called _you_ either of those things, but characterized the behavior as childish. ---
**Author:** ![Hyperelastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Hyperelastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hyperelastic)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2011, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adults-really-more-childish-than-in-years-past/594862/74 "2011-09-02T01:04:15Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Let’s just say that upper management would dictate what you wore to work, how long you wore your hair, whether or not you had a visible tattoos and/or piercings, maybe even whether or not you had facial hair, and you would put up with this because the benefits were worth it. Now, not so much. > Edited to add: This also used to extend to what you did in your “off time”. Strange hobbies or out-of-the-norm activities could reflect badly on you when it came to promotions and raises. Maybe the snooping went away for a while, but it’s back. All you hear these days is how companies are checking Facebook pages and such so you’d better be careful what you post. You have to take a urine test to get a job stocking shelves at a grocery store. Companies run credit checks and background checks before hiring people for even the lamest jobs. Some places won’t hire smokers, even if you don’t do it at work. It’s just a different set of norms people are being held to. As far as the work clothes, I think the pressure was much more subtle than just a rule laid down by management or a quid pro quo for benefits. It was a societal norm. Today, you only have to be slightly colorful to show up at the office in a Hawaiian shirt, but only a borderline sociopath would have done that in 1960. ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2011, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adults-really-more-childish-than-in-years-past/594862/75 "2011-09-02T01:17:39Z")
> [@Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](#): > > By your behavior here and posting style, you don’t do a very good job of disputing my assertion that gaming is juvenile. All your aggressive frothing at the mouth sounds like someone whose mommy forgot to give them their meds before school. This is too much, too — I should have noted it before. You need to stop this as well, **Living Well**. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2011, 10:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adults-really-more-childish-than-in-years-past/594862/76 "2011-09-02T10:28:11Z")
> [@bump](#): > > I’m guessing your level of familiarity with video games is pretty low, as in you still think of them as things you put a quarter in, or stupid games like “Angry Birds” on an iPhone. Hey! My mother is 62 and she loves _Angry Birds_. She thinks you’re a poopy head, too. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2011, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adults-really-more-childish-than-in-years-past/594862/77 "2011-09-02T10:56:51Z")
> [@Ellen\_Cherry](#): > > He received no slap-down because he never called _you_ either of those things, but characterized the behavior as childish. Since you yourself have now seen that he did do those things, asking for an apology from the mods is probably pushing it, huh? ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2011, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adults-really-more-childish-than-in-years-past/594862/78 "2011-09-02T13:23:51Z")
It needs to be dropped in this thread is what needs to happen. If you’d like it discuss it further, you should take it up in ATMB. ---
**Author:** ![Acid\_Lamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Acid\_Lamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acid_Lamp)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2011, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adults-really-more-childish-than-in-years-past/594862/79 "2011-09-02T14:01:34Z")
> [@Ellen\_Cherry](#): > > It needs to be dropped in this thread is what needs to happen. If you’d like it discuss it further, you should take it up in ATMB. Why this childish adherence to the rules? the _Adult_ thing to do would be to apologize… (D&R) ---
**Author:** ![Vita\_Beata](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/a9a28c/32.png) [@Vita\_Beata](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vita_Beata)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2011, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adults-really-more-childish-than-in-years-past/594862/80 "2011-09-02T14:24:24Z")
> [@Ellen\_Cherry](#): > > This is too much, too — I should have noted it before. You need to stop this as well, **Living Well**. I’m glad Ellen finally saw this, and also think it would be nice to see Justin receive an apology. 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adults-really-more-childish-than-in-years-past/594862.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adults-really-more-childish-than-in-years-past/594862.md?page=5)