What is the life experience that differentiates adults from adolescents?

[lin123_]

I always read somewhere that people who are over 25 years old are supposed to have much more life experience compared to, say, a 16-year-old. Sure, I've been in one long-term relationship, graduated from university, and I'm currently working in a demanding profession.
I have been living with my parents longer than most people, but not anymore.
I have never owned a car, an apartment, or anything expensive that is difficult to get rid of. I struggle to pay the bills in time even though I have the money, I rarely cook food.
I don't have kids, and I don't really have friends.
I haven't been travelling or seen the world, excluding a few short holidays.
I don't understand anything about politics, and i don't watch the news. I try to be a responsible, unselfish, and a decent individual.
I was treated badly for the longest time growing up, so despite being in my early thirties, I'm emotionally stuck in my teenage years. This is visible to me and to people who know me.
My intelligence is normal.
Your average 25-year-old is easily more adultlike/mature compared to me. I know the brain isn't fully matured until 24 years, but that's not the same as life experience.

So what exactly is this "life experience"?

Updates

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I am also wondering this because having a big age gap (even 5 years, which isn't that much) in a relationship is frowned upon, especially in your 20s and 30s, and a common argument for this is again that the other lacks life experience. In my opinion, the incomplete brain development that affects decision-making, etc., is a bigger problem.

[CupcakeTheDestroyer]

Yeah, the prefrontal cortex not finishing development is why those age gaps are so frowned upon. Teenagers can’t be expected to make the same level of decisions as 20-somethings. A 13 year old is not going to be as thoughtful as a 23 year old. Similarly, a 19 year old isn’t going to be as thoughtful as a 24 year old in making decisions either. The younger you are, the more impulsive you are, but there’s also a significant desperation for guidance that is lacking in your 20’s as you’re now expected to figure things out on your own. The issue is that there’s not only a clear imbalance in terms of who makes the better decisions between two young people 5 years apart, but that imbalance creates a codependency that can lead the younger person to be unable to realize just how manipulative a relationship like that can be, even when they reach their 30’s, because they literally can’t know better based on what they’ve learned by staying in that relationship.


That difference in development is part of what it takes to build the wisdom necessary to make decisions thoughtfully, and while there’s nothing ethically wrong in letting your experience guide someone else’s, it’s not necessarily a one-size-fits-all piece of advice. You sound like your typical 20-something in this current economy where home ownership is next to impossible and jobs don’t pay enough to give us the standard of living the generation before had. Your experience isn’t lacking in maturity, I would be more inclined to believe your relationship might have purposely stunted your social development as an age gap that wide at that young is definitely benefitting one person more than the other.

[Ironic_Method]

It sounds like you need some structure. I had a shitty childhood as well, but had the opposite effect. I was cooking and doing laundry since kindergarten and ever since I was 18 I've been trying to make my inner child happy.

People with similar stories cope in different ways. Some want to give up as much control as possible, others want to control everything because they never had it.

[Dan290290]

Love, pain, etc. I think "life experiences" are not all they're hyped about

[Dan290290]

Love is love. I've gone out with girls in their 20's and it was nice for both of us

[lin123_]

i undestand what you mean with pain, heartbreak is definitely something that makes you stronger.

[Dan290290]

Yes, I totally agree. Wiser too (like more careful).

[Dan290290]

Thanks for the mho.

[slatyb]

Nothing. There's no clear divide. It just comes down to taking responsibility, or not. Guess which side Trump is on?