There was a story in the news today about a dust devil at home plate during a little kids' baseball game. A 7-year-old batter was trapped by the swirling wind until a 17-year-old referee picked him up and set down outside the phenomenon.
In actual reality that is what 17-year-olds do. Littler people might not have the strength and older people might have to think about what to do.
Thinking about what we do is often an advantage for us old people. It saves us from a lot of stupid mistakes and helps us see better alternatives. But it does slow us down and sometimes simply taking action is the better way to play the actual reality game. Most 17-year-olds are particularly adept at taking action without much thought.
This is why having people of different ages is so important. I am not sure we should allow younger children to go anywhere unless accompanied by a 16- to 24-year-old.
Of course those 16- to 24-year-olds should probably have general supervision from a 45- to 60-year-old wherever they go, with or without younger people. The way we are built we work best when we work together.
I am no longer in any of those age brackets. I have not been one of King David's "young men" for decades now and even "mature adulthood" is more memory than reality. I see that story about the dust devil and what I think is: Maybe I should not go anywhere unless a 16- to 24-year-old will be in the vicinity. In actual reality I would probably live longer and safer following that rule.