Reply #4: "Based on custom or tradition?"

[Irreverend IX]

People are perfectly capable of behaving as adults at age 15. The only thing that prevents them from doing so today is culture. There have been successful kings and generals aged 15 and younger. In past eras when living was much more hand-to-mouth and everyone had to pull their weight or starve, people grew up really fast.

That said, I think the optimal adulthood age would be 17. High school's mostly over at that point, and you might as well be an adult when you step out into the world. If any 17- or 18-year-olds end up getting in trouble or killing themselves through the abuse of adult privileges, that's just Darwin doing his job.

Adulthood at age 22 is absurd. There's no way someone should be stripped of rights and shielded from the consequences of their actions for that long.