It looks like boys, like girls, are reaching sexual maturity earlier and earlier. According to this article, “being 18 today is like being 22 in 1800.”
Of course, being 22 in 1800 was an absolute blast — the powdered wigs, the horse-drawn carriages, the wooden muskets — PARTEEE!
What’s interesting about this report isn’t so much what they know as how they know it. Scientists can track the onset of sexual maturity in boys because that’s when boys are most likely to engage in dangerous behavior and kill themselves.
The accident hump, which also exists among male apes, occurs because young men participate in particularly risky behaviour when the release of the hormone testosterone reaches its maximum. Dangerous and reckless shows of strength, negligence, and a high propensity to violence lead to an increased number of fatal accidents.
I could see an ape falling for that kind of ho-haw, but I’d like to think we humans are smarter. Disappointed again.
There ought to be a “Porky’s”- “American Pie” style Stupid Sex Comedy set in 18oo called “The Accident Hump”. All the guys would have Powdered Wigs, Write Letters With Feathers, etc. and have nonstop Fatal Accidents. That would be hilarious.