- Author
- Posted by hackernj, with replies from many commenters
- Published
- 25 November 2025
- Kind
- Hacker News discussion thread on a news article
- Original
- news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46045661
- Subject
- Science and medicine
What it is
User hackernj posted the Guardian headline. A commenter says the article lists changes at 9, 32, 66 and 83. The study scanned nearly 4,000 people, per a quoted line.
What it says
- Many commenters shared personal accounts of feeling a shift in their early thirties.
- Several said parenthood could explain the age-32 shift, noting the study did not test it.
- Some called a sample of 4000 people too small. One noted all were from England and the US.
- Some warned that the era names adolescent and adult do not match everyday meanings.
- A side debate asked whether the findings bear on voting, office and driving ages.
- A long exchange weighed solitude against close relationships as marks of adulthood.
- Others questioned causality, suggesting the eras may reflect life events and culture.
What evidence it gives
Commenters offer personal anecdote, quoted lines from the article and a link to a figure. Nobody in the thread reanalyses the data.
Interests and limits
Commenters are anonymous. The Guardian article and the paper were not opened. Study details come from commenters. Many replies concern parenting, politics and relationships, not the brain. Anecdotes cannot test the study's findings.