Why are some people not growing up?

I have never encountered such a fictional shibboleth of a man, and I guarantee that neither have you.

Straw man again.

4 or 5 I reckon but who is counting really? But yes isn't it mystifying and strange that something that is very current and very active in my life might somehow make its way frequently into things I write about? Mad. Clearly that never happens to anyone but me :)

I would say it can be as you describe above but like many things in life it does not have to be. In that it is not a given pursuit in and of itself that is mature or immature - or a good or bad investment of ones time - but what you specifically derive from it.

There is absolutely a mindless thoughtless time sink way of watching any sport from which you get nothing more than the rush of dopamine associated with becoming emotionally invested and therefore vicariously stimulated by the successes and failures of your chosen athlete(s).

But there are ways to watch sports that are inspirational, unifying, educational, stimulating and nourishing too. When a nation unites behind a team on the world stage for example - and through that represents their country - it can be moving and unifying and more.

Or when I watch certain events in MMA or jujitsu or judo or the Olympics I can find in it both inspiration and education. I see the limits of what human achievement and dedication is capable of at the upper tiers of discipline and training and effort. As a practitioner myself I can learn from watching the experts and see moves and nuances I can apply to my own game and my own growth. It's inspiring.

It is so easy to point at anything and dismiss it or laud it as a good or bad investment of time or maturity/immaturity. The reality is more nuanced however and it is not WHAT you engage with but HOW and WHY you engage with it that really defines the utility and worth.

All that said though I would not be so quick to deride the wasting of time in "useless" fashion. We do not have to be switched on 24/7. Pursuing meaningless waste of time can be a worthy end in itself for many reasons. Especially if it's part of an otherwise balanced and examined life and existence.

That is hilarious. I would genuinely love to hear your reasoning on that one :)

Your very heavily invested in this notion of society under threat. Which says far more about your psychology than it does about society.

And again how is what you pointed to materially different from a bunch of lads putting on the green jersey and shouting for Ireland.

At some point we all have to stand on our own two feet. There's nothing that makes someone grow up quicker than leaving the family home and making their own way in the world.

Some may think folks are coddling their children more these days, others might think they're just being more caring and affording them things they didn't have themselves.

Either way, the vast majority of people cut the apron strings at some point and fend for themselves. That's growing up.

A person who can do that while still watching Pokemon or building Lego is far more interesting IMO than average Dan who watches the footie every Saturday with the lads down the boozer and puts 'Golf' as one of his hobbies/interests on CVs.

Which is scarier would you say? The idea that "Furries" are people who never grew up. Or they are people who have grown up and that is what they grew up into?

I do not think I fear OR pity such people though. I more take the approach of Mic Christopher's "Kid's Song" which is to feel that as long as such people remain a minority - they color and add to the world by existing. I hope they never go away as much as I hope they never become 5% of our population :)

Which one though. I have soooooo many. :p

You always extrapolate way beyond what people say to unreasonable conclusions about what they mean - which is very interesting.

The whole concept of "growing up" is very unspecific.

The lad who played sport, and then when they no longer participated continued to spend all their free time following and attending sport could be thought of as having never grown up. But professional sport is a paid profession? It is, but only for a few and only possible because of the money paid by those who don't want to grow up.

"do not let daily to-ing and fro-ing to earn what we need to keep going prevent what you once felt when wee, hopeful and free."

I'm not that young anymore. Love everything from Spiderverse to Miyazaki. Enjoy dipping into comic books and even doing some gaming. I'm also a home owner and have been in consistent employment for nearly a decade. I'm lost on how my movie taste etc negatively impacts my contributions to society.

Honestly, you seem more intent to drag culture war nonsense in.

Whats annoying is to equate maturity to one utterly trivial pursuit and immaturity to another equally trivial pursuit. Now that really points to intellectual immaturity.

Where did this notion spring from.

A natural part of growing up is to play games - it's part of learning. That is where sports came from.

I love threads where the OP just refuses to stop digging. Always a wild ride.

Why hasn't this thread been closed for heightism?

It could get mysteriously swept away in the vanilla update tonight.

I ain't complaining about sports, I am not a fan but they mostly are harmless past times.

What I am objecting to is a man who watches sports complaining about other peoples harmless past times.

The lack of self analysis is staggering.

It's the usual 'the generation after my one is full of degenerates' argument.

For previous generations it was homosexuality. The generation before I haven't a clue, potentially ankle exposure? 😂

It goes in loops though, go back to Ancient Greece and they were riding everything that moved.