All very interesting, but...
I'm sure child psychologists would tell you that younger children all have death anxiety. I remember telling my parents not to buy me Xmas presents because in the long run it was all futile. I was 8.

But I'm not sure that's the same as knowing for sure that you're going to die and putting your life in that mortal context - they have no life experience as such. Their horizons don't extend further than school and their earliest memories- not enough context for existentialist angst.

I'll concede that adolescents of around 16 can probably see the bigger picture, but a lot of this 'bravery' stuff is adult projection on to the young (who mirror what they see without necessarily feeling it.)

I should say that I am neither a psychologist, doctor or expert of any kind. Just a smart-arse blabbermouth.
(frankspencer, Fri 29 Feb 2008, 14:34, Reply)