|
From Merriam-Webster dot com:
Main Entry:
ma·ture
Etymology:
Middle English, from Latin maturus ripe; akin to Latin mane in the morning, manus good
Date:
15th century
1: based on slow careful consideration <a mature judgment>
2 a (1): having completed natural growth and development : ripe
(2): having undergone maturation
b: having attained a final or desired state <mature wine>
c: having achieved a low but stable growth rate <paper is a mature industry> d: of, relating to, or being an older adult : elderly <airline discounts for mature travelers>
3 a: of or relating to a condition of full development
b: characteristic of or suitable to a mature individual <mature outlook> <a show with mature content>
4: due for payment <a mature loan>
5: belonging to the middle portion of a cycle of erosion
(the last one was unexpected and funny!)
Notice that intelligence or emotion doesn't appear anywhere. Those are attributes of people, but are demonstrated in a wide range amongst people.
They develop at different rates from person to person.
At younger ages, intelligence may be used as a metric to determine arrested or normal development, say, a two year old who has a vocabulary of a dozen or more words may be said to be developing normally.
But when the person reaches adolescence, specialization begins, and the vocabulary is determined by the higher education and career that person follows. A civil engineer will have a vastly different vocabulary than a humanities major, so vocabulary may only be used in a limited sense to determine maturity. Other metrics must be used, but are more difficult to apply as they depend on subjective observations. "He is immature, she should grow up" may be said about individuals who are socially arrested, not limited by vocabulary, or have not been educated in manners and etiquette.
"When I was a child I spoke as a child
I understood as a child I thought as a child;
but when I became a man I put away childish things."
I Cor. xiii. 11
We can say "To put away childish things" means that we stop watching cartoons and start wearing fashion suitable for the workplace, but there are still immature people in their middle age who use childish ways to get what they want, even though they wear a suit and tie, they still use tactics such as "take my ball and go home" and "you made me first" etc.
People use what worked for them in the past, and as long as it still works, they will still use them, for the emotional payback, and those who are mature rise above it. I am not saying I am mature, I have head trips like everyone else, but "thinking like a child" can be said to be a hallmark of immaturity.
|