[TheRaisin]

I prefer adults to children, but adults can sometimes be worse. When a child acts childish or petty or what have you, it's because he or she can't control him- or herself, or he or she hasn't learned how to behave. But adults can be just as petty, nasty, and cruel. The difference is that adults know exactly what they're doing. When an adult says something hurtful, it's because they want it to hurt. When they do something cruel, it's for the sake of being cruel. And of course, an adult's power to inflict harm is much greater than that of a child. An adult can hit someone where it hurts.

Of course, without adults there would be no art worth mentioning. Children can't experience real love or hate, anguish, heartbreak, ennui, any of the intense and deep emotions that lead to the creation of meaningful art.

So they have to grow up sometime. But they should enjoy their youth while they have it. I acted weird for years (I'm only just growing out of it). I wouldn't presume to say that I acted like an adult, but I certainly didn't act my age. My ettiquette, my vocabulary, my knowledge of natural science were all downright anomalous for a person of my age. But obviously it doesn't do to act older than you are when you're a little kid. I never acted like a kid when I was supposed to, and look how I turned out.

On an unrelated note, TBB, I am pleased at your use of the universal metaphor, the burrito, in this . . . d word (like an argument, but with bigger words involved). I love using the burrito as an example in any philosophical or theological debate. Like, "Could God make a burrito so hot that he himself could not eat it?".