From: Zero Powers (zero_powers@hotmail.com)
Date: Tue Aug 13 2002 - 01:19:33 MDT
>From: "Eliezer S. Yudkowsky" <sentience@pobox.com>
>Alex Ramonsky wrote:
>>
>>Wow this is really scary...I've never really got the 'adult' thing. I
>>mean, how do you _know_? Do you just wake up one morning and feel
>>different? Then you know you're grown up?
> > I keep waiting for it to
>>happen to me and it just hasn't.
>
>If you're lucky (or unlucky) you may never grow up. If you're unlucky (or
>lucky) you'll get mugged in a dark alley, crash your car into a highway
>divider, or join the army; come out of it with your life; and wake up one
>morning knowing you're a grownup. For those not interested in risking
>their lives, I understand that having a child sometimes but not always
>produces the same effect.
That's what did it for me, having kids that is. I still don't "feel" like a
grown-up. But being married with children dumps abundant responsibility on
a man. You either live up to that responsibility or you don't. If you do,
by definition you're an adult.
Although I do let my inner teenager come out however and whenever I can do
it without shirking my responsibilities. Having your own business comes in
very handy in that regard. Since I'm the boss, *every* day is casual day.
And, whenever the workload permits, I make a regular practice of leaving the
office early to hit the trails of the Santa Monica Mountains on my bike, or
the bike path at Venice Beach with my rollerblades.
Yep, if I didn't know better, I'd think it was 1980 all over again -- except
of course for those nagging grey hairs and the fact that my favorite music
is now played on radio stations that describe their format as "classic" rock
(that really rocks) or "old school" R&B. Geez, guess I really am a geezer.
-Zero
"I'm a seeker too. But my dreams aren't like yours. I can't help thinking
that somewhere in the universe there has to be something better than man.
Has to be." -- George Taylor _Planet of the Apes_ (1968)
_________________________________________________________________
Chat with friends online, try MSN Messenger: http://messenger.msn.com
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.5 : Sat Nov 02 2002 - 09:16:02 MST