The brain does not magically mature at 25. Actual neuroscientists note some 8-year-olds even have a greater “maturation index” than 25-year-olds. The myth misunderstands basic neuroscience but is still used for anti-trans policymaking like the Cass Report. https://slate.com/technology/2022/11/brain-development-25-year-old-mature-myth.html
I would really recommend that ppl read “The Mismeasure of Man” for a history of how shaky pseudoscience was often used to confirm social prejudices.
The 25 thing will be remembered alongside the “ape-like features of non-europeans”, “criminal stigmata”, the “missing ounces of the female brain” and the “average american’s mental age of 12” (that time IQ tests were misrepresented as a measure of general intelligence to prove it was impossible to educate the working class.. a patently silly claim now that many countries have near-universal literacy.)
It’s no coincidence that all this stuff is suddenly appearing at a time when younger ppl are kept from meeting typical milestones by a mix of helicopter parenting & a shitty economy
Neuroimaging is in its infancy. Just look at all those reports of “gender differences” that magically disappear with larger sample sizes.
