This convoluted glob of gray jelly we have in our heads is fantastic stuff. It soaks up information from all its sensors, then converts those photons, air waves, pheromones, pressures, motions and tastes to images which become reality to us. It forms pictures in our heads, tells us where we are in what relationship to those other objects around us. It keeps us balanced and guides our motions. It warns us of sudden danger, and can, in a flash, bring up perceptions of past events. It guides our body parts through incredibly complex motions, correlates them and joins them to a multigig data bank, allowing such things as a violinist playing Tchaikovsky by memory. It analyzes and compares like things to let us know how each is different and which is best for us. It allows us to communicate with each other by using a combination of symbols which have meaning both for the expressor and the receiver. Those symbols are gathered together in our heads as thoughts or concepts that we can agree on and allow us to rapidly pass information from one of us to the other. It can react within a split second and shift effortlessly from one task to another. It can carry on multitasks at one time, and is usually required to do so. In different animals with different sensors it produces entirely different images which become reality for that animal. Wow! What an organ!
This glob of convoluted jelly in our heads has approximately doubled in size every 1.5 million years, since the first humans appeared. Although there may be other reasons for this remarkable increase in brain substance, one likely cause is the advent of human speech. One has to only watch wasps build a complex nest to know that it does not take much brain substance to perform very complex tasks. It leaves us wondering why we need so much brain, even with the expression and interpretation of both spoken and written language, music, mathematics and facile hands allowing us to perform complex digital tasks. In particular, why is there so much prefrontal cortex, which is not necessary for any of the other tasks of daily living that we do. You can perform a prefrontal lobotomy, cut that part of the brain away from the other parts, and still have a functioning human being. Or is it quite the same?
Teenagers are a pretty wild bunch. These hormones hit them and they feel obliged to do things any sane person would not do. They take remarkable risks; they will try anything at least once and frequently more than once. They have no concept of death. They don’t think it is going to happen to them and don’t think it is going to happen to any of their friends. They suddenly fall deeply in love and believe it is forever. When they are spurned or fall out of love, they believe that the whole world has stopped and life isn’t worth living. It they are humiliated or degraded, their anger is intense, and they usually strike back in violent ways. They drive too fast, cause most of the accidents, bungee jump, parachute jump, do the high dives, and ride motorcycles with their helmets off. They try any drug at least once. They treat adults with disdain, hurt others at will, and burn their bridges behind them, believing that there will always be other bridges ahead to cross. The world is magical, and does not require planning or thought.
There is a reason for this behavior beyond the power of androgen and estrogen. Studies of students at different ages show that none of us has the power to see the consequences of our actions well until beyond age 25. It takes that long to bring the prefrontal cortex into active play in every action that we take. Until age 25, we don’t consistently think before we act, and don’t own up to the results of our own actions as being our responsibility. That’s why teenagers are so rash. They can’t see into the future to gauge in any way what the effect of their actions will be. In other words, we don’t fully develop a conscience and don’t fully develop rational thought until age 25. Not only is our big brain needed for language and motor skills, it is needed so we can make long range rational, loving, and compassionate decisions.
Actually, everyone already knows this about teenagers without expressing it as such. We have these newly developed humans who are driven by hormones, not sure of themselves but brashly ready to dive into anything with enthusiasm. Although self-centered, they are insecure, and are looking for something that will give meaning to life. They are easily persuaded to adapt a cause which will give them direction in life. Once converted to that cause, they become rabid supporters. That’s why all causes are out to recruit young people before they become 25. Churches certainly do it. They have lovely, kind and gentle people give stirring messages, have candle-lit processions, and on warm summer evenings around campfires ask teens to “commit their life to Christ.” Every organization in the whole world wants to convert the youth to their cause.
And no one is better at this than the military. They know that if they can get a young man or woman to sign up, then put them through a deprivation indoctrination, they can get someone who will no longer think independently, but do what they tell him or her to do, including giving up their lives. They appeal to their male and female hormones. They tell them to “be all that you can be.” They appeal to their sense of pride in their family, community and nation. They tell them that they have to do terrible things to other humans in order to protect their friends, loved ones, and their country. They appeal to their sense of pride, and make them believe that this is a noble cause. They convince these youthful adults that even though they may do evil things to other humans and even though they may lose their lives, their mothers, fathers, sisters and brothers will always be proud of them.
It is impossible to think that if the military were not allowed to recruit soldiers until after age 25, they would have the same response. In other words, if the military did not recruit young adults before they are able to think responsibly, we would not have much of a military. It is doubtful that very many mature men and women would want to sign up to be trained as a killer and/or drop bombs on women and children, as if it were just an extension of video games. After age 25, most would think twice before embarking on such a career. Most would know better. Most would think that they don’t want to go to some foreign land to kill strange men, women and children. Most would realize that if they invade a foreign country without just cause, they will be hated forever for that act. Most would understand that if they are trained to be killers, it will be hard to turn off that calloused attitude toward life. They would understand that after that experience, it is difficult to return to being a loving husband or wife, and loving parent. Most would understand that even if there are no disfiguring physical scars there will be emotional disabling scars, making all the rest of life difficult.
This is not to say that we do not need a military. We certainly do. Those that are willing to fight for their country and lay their lives on the line deserve our utmost respect and admiration. We believe that if our country is attacked, we should all do exactly that. We would all know exactly why we were fighting to protect our country, and know the consequences of those actions. But maybe all we need for a military is a small, dedicated force willing to defend our country, each of them fully aware of why they are there and what they are doing. Maybe we do not need a gigantic military with the numbers and force to invade and conquer any country anywhere, even though there is no good reason to do so. Maybe one of the mistakes we make when we are too powerful is to find ways to show our power. Maybe when we throw our power around too much it makes everyone else hate us. Maybe we do not want or need a gigantic military which has obtained its size by preying on neophyte adults before they are able to understand the consequences of their actions.