Where is meggy? Where is meggy? There's meggy!

I've been reading a lot of children psych books (getting ready for the suicide).Very well known trivia: The reason the "where's meggy" game works so well for todlers is because children at such age are unable to perceive the world based on a different point of view other than their own. To them, if they can't see you then they assume you can't see them.In adults, such characteristic is viewed as a psychological disorder, possibly sociopathy. While many of us (adults) learned long ago that the limits of our understanding of the world are not necessarily the limits of other people's understanding of the world, it is apparent that today in our everyone-has-an-opinion-on-everything society many many otherwise mature adults assume that what they know about, say, art, science, math, etc. is about as far as what everyone else knows about the subjects. I can't tell you how many times I've heard know-it-alls try to argue with me on science after they've heard I have a background in it.But between the adult and todler stages, there are a few stages in human development when we expect individuals to be selfish, unempathetic, and sometimes even narcissistic (although we call it teenage arrogance). Some are better at hiding their arrogance than others.What I want to know is at what stage in life do we stop considering the teenage mentality of "I know everything about everything" as normal and start viewing it more as a psychological disorder?

adolescence IS a psychological disorder. as anyone who remembers it clearly will tell you. it's just common, so we accept it -- so the answer to your question is really a social construct. we could arbitrarily say "21" if you like, though perhaps the new adulthood starts after college.

---