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Japan plans to lower age of adulthood to 18 (2018)

bbc.com

71–80 of 115 posts

Re: Japan plans to lower age of adulthood to 18 (2018)

#71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes. Me. Plus various other, similar situations. (I am in complete honesty unsure whether to regret it.)

Do you also never go over the speed limit? My sense of “honesty” isn’t dictated by the government. Now whether I obey the law is determined strictly by a risk/rewards calculation But those are still entirely different.

> My sense of “honesty” isn’t dictated by the government.

> Now whether I obey the law is determined strictly by a risk/rewards calculation

That's the most intellectually dishonest answer I've seen to "I followed the law in a specific scenario".

Re: Japan plans to lower age of adulthood to 18 (2018)

#72
post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The reason why they don’t ask you is you are (most likely) a westerner. In my experience if you are an underage looking japanese buying alcohol alone, they most likely will ask your age. And drunk driving in japan? It’s much more common than you would think.

Can't you just buy alcohol from a vending machine? (Source: Bought a lot of alcohol from vending machines while I was in Japan. Never got asked for ID.)

In my experience, the vending machines near and in hotels, etc, did not require any form of ID. However, the random ones I found out on the street required you to have obtained an ID/Authorization card beforehand.

Re: Japan plans to lower age of adulthood to 18 (2018)

#73

If you restrict people under the age of from doing something, they usually will find the means and do it anyway, but out of govt control, so it migt be even worse than if you didn't try. That is true about porn, alcochol, tobacco, working (I could never get that one) and lots of other things.

I agree that the number is arbitrary, and probably not a good one but I'm not sure that warrants not having it at all. Surely we would agree 7 year olds should be kept from (porn, alcochol, tobacco, working 'for money')

Some HN-ers would say "why dictate a 7-year old, let them watch what they find", then head to a YouTube kids thread and brag about only giving their kids 1990s style phones.

Re: Japan plans to lower age of adulthood to 18 (2018)

#74
post #7

> But teenagers will still be banned from smoking, drinking alcohol and gambling until they are 20. The logic of this escapes me. Although the article does not seem to mention it, it seems probable that the voting age will likely also be lowered to 18. This means teenagers will be considered old enough to make decisions that will affect the entire country, all the while being considered too immature to make decisions…

> This means teenagers will be considered old enough to make decisions that will affect the entire country,

Yes. I also wonder why Voting age and voting identification requirements are different in US, then for purchasing firearms, or military service.

Both require adult-level accountability. Both can have dire consequences (at different magnitudes).

It seems more logical to have minimum age, criminal record, and identification requirements parity for Voting, Firearms ownership, and military service

(there should be special physical disability exceptions, I presume).

Re: Japan plans to lower age of adulthood to 18 (2018)

#75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you also never go over the speed limit? My sense of “honesty” isn’t dictated by the government. Now whether I obey the law is determined strictly by a risk/rewards calculation But those are still entirely different.

> My sense of “honesty” isn’t dictated by the government. > Now whether I obey the law is determined strictly by a risk/rewards calculation That's the most intellectually dishonest answer I've seen to "I followed the law in a specific scenario".

It’s not intellectually dishonest. Speeding is against the law. Do you speed?

Have you ever downloaded a movie off of bit torrent?

Do you think that Black people should have moved to the back of the bus in the 60s because it was the law?

There were laws on the books in many southern states until recently making homosexual sex a sin. Should that law have been followed?

There were laws against interracial marriage until the 60s and Utah is just now debating whether a law against premarital sex should be taken off the books.

Re: Japan plans to lower age of adulthood to 18 (2018)

#76
post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the US at least, the 21 yo drinking age is mostly a wholly pragmatic law [EDIT: laws. It's state by state but there was a big federal stick attached to highway funding.] to reduce teenage drunk driving (which affects more than the individual). Tobacco sales is mostly 18 in the US (although a few states are 21). Casinos also vary although the drinking age restricts It's hard to make an intellectual case for dispari…

Is there any statistic that shows a 21 drinking age reduces per capital teenage drunk driving deaths as compared to Quebec or Alberta, where it is 18?

Yes

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/03/140318140757.h...

Re: Japan plans to lower age of adulthood to 18 (2018)

#77
post #24
post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would argue that it actually ends up having the opposite effect. The culture towards drinking that the US has, means that young people either have to hide really hard that they are in fact drinking, or that they never learn control before much later in life, because they go all in when they are 21. This, funnily enough is after they have had their drivers license for some years, and those two mix bad together (lack…

I'd like to agree but the evidence suggests differently, e.g. [1] Arguably, there was an increased awareness in the US of drunk driving as a problem during that period but the effect still seems to be real even correcting for that. Of course, if we assume a completely different culture around alcohol, the results might well be different. [1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20497803

[deleted]

Re: Japan plans to lower age of adulthood to 18 (2018)

#78
post #29
post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd like to agree but the evidence suggests differently, e.g. [1] Arguably, there was an increased awareness in the US of drunk driving as a problem during that period but the effect still seems to be real even correcting for that. Of course, if we assume a completely different culture around alcohol, the results might well be different. [1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20497803

Ah, I should maybe have been more clear. My point was that it would have better effects to change the culture around drinking, rather than increasing the age limit of when you can drink. I’m not suggesting that it’s an easy thing to do though.

Another approach is to change technology.

Volvo has keys with a built-in breathalyzer: https://accessories.volvocars.com/en-us/C30/Accessories/Docu...

And of course, autonomous vehicles could make drinking a non-issue for getting around, just like trains and buses do today.

Re: Japan plans to lower age of adulthood to 18 (2018)

#79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree that the number is arbitrary, and probably not a good one but I'm not sure that warrants not having it at all. Surely we would agree 7 year olds should be kept from (porn, alcochol, tobacco, working 'for money')

Some HN-ers would say "why dictate a 7-year old, let them watch what they find", then head to a YouTube kids thread and brag about only giving their kids 1990s style phones.

I think those are probably separate groups of people. In fact, the ones that argue the first point tend to not actually have kids/interact with children in general

Re: Japan plans to lower age of adulthood to 18 (2018)

#80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> My sense of “honesty” isn’t dictated by the government. > Now whether I obey the law is determined strictly by a risk/rewards calculation That's the most intellectually dishonest answer I've seen to "I followed the law in a specific scenario".

It’s not intellectually dishonest. Speeding is against the law. Do you speed? Have you ever downloaded a movie off of bit torrent? Do you think that Black people should have moved to the back of the bus in the 60s because it was the law? There were laws on the books in many southern states until recently making homosexual sex a sin. Should that law have been followed? There were laws against interracial marriage unti…

Sorry, the phrase risk/rewards was a trigger. I know acquaintances that drive in the carpool lane because they can afford to pay the fine if caught, and brag about it. You seemed to fall in that camp (vs thinking about higher level, heavily debated laws like the ones about homosexuality), but clearly that wasn't the case!
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