The term “mature” is thrown around quite a bit. According to the Oxford Dictionary, the word means “fully developed physically” or “full-grown.” However, we use the term simply to refer to people—or any organism, for that matter—who show adult-like qualities. Would I say I’m mature? As a twenty-three-year-old, I’d say so… but my brain hasn’t stopped developing, so it’s hard to pin down the extent of it. Not that brain development necessarily means everything… There are twenty-one-year-olds who show more qualities of maturity than a thirty-five-year-old. Scary, I know—but it’s true.
But that’s just general maturity. As you may know, emotional maturity exists; physical maturity exists as well. But what about intellectual maturity—and why is it important?
Intellectual (or cognitive) maturity signifies a high level of reasoning, judgment, and, of course, intellect. It also means being open minded and a skilled problem solver. I would say that this type of maturity trumps emotional and physical maturity in determining the extent of someone’s adulthood for a few reasons. The first one being that the “level” of intellectual maturity fluctuates a lot less than the level of emotional maturity. Emotional maturity is extremely difficult to pin down due to the fact that there are several factors that affect a person’s emotional state: testosterone, estrogen, menopause, mental health, medications, life events, etc.—they all contribute to how a person feels on the inside. Unless it is clear that someone is a child based on how they handle certain occurrences, it’s hard to tell how much of an adult someone is based on that alone.
There is a dilemma I don’t want to ignore, though: doesn’t someone’s emotions impact their judgment? In some cases, yes; in some cases, no. In cases where they do impact someone’s judgment, I’d say emotional maturity acts as a variable in determining someone’s level of intellectual maturity. However, there are those who are able to separate their emotions from their decisions. In this case, the two are mutually exclusive; a person who separates their emotions from their actions may still have bad judgment and reasoning. As humans, we’re naturally driven to emotion-based decisions, though—and that’s okay.
While someone spends every dime, another is saving up for a down payment on a new car they’d be able to finance. That doesn’t mean one of them is inherently more emotionally mature than the other. The other person might just be bad with money. But in most cases, one of their intellects definitely shows more qualities of being an adult than the other.
Physical maturity is a tough one, though. It seems as if I’ve already lost this argument—how can I argue with the actual growth of a human being? There, I surrender. But consider this: does this necessarily mean that whoever is older has better reasoning or judgment than someone who is younger than them? I think not. In fact, I mentioned something about it earlier in this post. I’ve seen someone in their late thirties display behaviors that a teenage boy would display. On the other hand, I see people my age teaching students and buying homes with their partners. In my humble opinion, I think intellectual maturity is a better indicator of adulthood than how many times a person has revolved around the sun.
On a personal level, I do think I become intellectually mature every day. The way I think is becoming a lot more logical, and I have better judgment. I thought of scrapping this post midway through, thinking it was irrelevant—but I knew that I can be hard on myself. Because of that, I ignored the feeling and kept writing, knowing that it’s still meaningful. There are still parts of myself that need work, but there are always more parts of myself that are improving.
The question is: how do we increase intellectual maturity? Read. Write. Don’t just watch sports—learn about all of the plays. Find a philosophical theory and get really into it. Learn something new that’s productive and builds confidence. What you should avoid are distractors like social media, drugs, alcohol… things that give you a hit of dopamine in the moment but don’t do much for you long term. Dopamine addiction is very real, and I suggest you learn about it. Doing things that help will make you feel better about yourself long term and will make you seem a lot smarter. People are into that, you know? Who wants someone who’s not that bright?
If this made you feel smarter, I’m glad that I had that effect on you. If this made you feel not so smart, then think about what makes you feel more confident and really look into it. I’m not saying I’m an “intellectual” or anything, but all it takes is a deep dive into a subject here and there to really build self-esteem and intellectual maturity. There are extremely intelligent people out there who only know a lot about their specific trade or field. It’s not about knowing everything—but knowing more about your world and the world around you helps you make wiser decisions.
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