EDIT: I added a bit in following two lines so that readers can understand it’s about specific aspects.
I thought about easy way to evaluate maturity in specific aspects.
Basically, this is to know how immature we are in certain area.
To make it simple, let’s compare baby vs mature human.
Dependency: Babies are super dependent. When we grow, we gain physical, emotional, mental, financial, and other independence (or become less dependent).
Dependent attitude: For a baby, it;s normal to depend on parents or people around. While some parents prefer to keep this dependent attitude for easier control/manipulation of their kid, there are parents who guide their kid into more independent attitude. When we have dependent attitude, we have less initiative, we are less responsible, we learn less, and we are less aware, in general.
Perspectives: Babies seem to have limited or fixed perspectives. As we grow, we obtain ability to take different perspective and loosen at least some of fixations.
Reasoning/questioning: Babies have limited reasoning ability. Later, some of us will develop very basic and often false reasoning, while other may develop more abstract/relative reasoning with less limitations/blind-areas.
I’m going to stop the list and look back what we have, here.
Judging from how I wrote, I guess I see babies as somewhat limited/restricted and loosing limitations/fixations as the sign of gaining maturity.
Oh, I wanted to add a few more item to the list.
Empathy (The capacity to follow the perspective of someone in pain): Babies are often pretty self-centered being and limited in the freedom of perspective adoption. Mature person who has less fixations have more possibility in following different perspective (even that is against one’s strong preferences/beliefs).
Inferior complex: Babies don’t have it much, but infants have it. It’s normal because when we are young, we are small and weak and less capable in many many areas. So, an infant may connects and fixates young/small/weak/incapable with BAD, and older/bigger/stronger/capable with GOOD, and then strongly desire to become someone with GOOD qualities. When we get older, many of us would learn that bigger/stronger/etc isn’t always good/desirable, and leave the immature fixations. But some of us may continue to keep this, till the end.
Well, I guess we can measure the maturity of individual or culture/community/country with these criteria.
For example, American culture isn’t very mature in one criteria because of the love for bigger and stronger car/guy/gun/bomb/etc.
But US isn’t so dependent in physical (I mean military) area.
So, US can be seen like someone with physical independence but not so mature in mentality, in a very rough and simplified evaluation.
It’s a fun and easy way to evaluate maturity of different aspects.