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Originally Posted by flstf
Hasn't nature played a cruel trick on us? When we reach our teens our interest and desire for sex will probably never be greater (at least for boys)and yet according to "peer-reviewed" references we are not mentally prepared. One would think that we would have evolved so that these things would happen simultaineously. I have always wondered why we should be wired this way. I wonder if nature just may be smarter than us and perhaps the age of consent should be reconsidered.
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Unfortunatley or otherwise, nature has a pretty biological perspective on things and not a cultural perspective. Evolutionarily speaking, organisms evolve for reproduction and survival. You only have to live long enough to reproduce, and when humans used to live closer to nature (where disease, predators, etc. took their toll) a teenager was middle-aged. As long as you survived to puberty, had a child, and raised that child to self-sufficiency, you were biologically/evolutionarily successful. With longer life spans and the development of culture, industrialism, and the concept of childhood, all of a sudden judgment and higher mental functions became more important than biology in terms of what makes a "successful" human being. Most anybody can reproduce, but those who are able to position themselves well in society are more likely to have the resources to reproduce successfully by our new standards.