My cats grow to adulthood pretty much within one or two years. They learn, or seem to know, what to do to manage their daily lives. They know how to defend themselves, seek shelter, provide food, take care of their children, be social, and that is about all they need.

What is striking is that previously, the average life expectancy for a person was around 35 years. If they were to be educated in a university and grow professionally like we do today, their graduation and becoming part of society would have come in the last years of their lives. But it was not. In the past, people had families and managed their lives when they were 16–17. Having children by this age today usually makes it to the news. If anything, the character of Lorelai in Gilmore Girls is shaped by her pregnancy at 16 and the controversy that made her run away from her parents to a small town.

In our times, the average life expectancy is around 72, and people often live into their 90s. Given that, we finish basic education by 18, higher education by around 22, and most take years to develop professionally, becoming established in their 30s. Things are becoming harder, and there is more and more to learn.

Now, what I sometimes think about is this: With the bar to being a grown-up rising every day due to societal pressure, what happens to our psyche that needs to feel it has matured? Where does the conveyed sense of inadequacy go?