I first published this January 1, 2012. With so many young people arriving at Hubski in the last week, it might be fun to revisit this idea. Or not.
I actually think the notion of a "quarter" and "mid" life crisis are just strong cultural constructions. I am 26 and I have gone through various things that some people may call "crises" but I don't think these happen within set age cohorts. They can happen at various times depending on a person's personality, life experience, decisions, culture, economic circumstances, etc. Someone can want to redefine themselves at 20, 25, 30, 35... all the way until they die. Anyway... that is my take.
Absolutely. People have all kinds of problems all the time. Some people may never have quarter or mid-life crises. They may have different problems altogether. You are particularly lucky in knowing what you want to do and having the ability to focus on it. I have noticed specific recurring symptoms among others in their 20s. Wikipedia has an interesting take on this citing the movie, The Graduate as an example. Did you see the article called: Great apes suffer mid-life crisis too from November 2012. I thought you posted it at one point.
Yes I did real the great apes mid-life crisis study and I wrote a post about it. I know people do have crises at different points in their lives and that they can be labelled quarter and mid etc., and maybe their is some strong biological underlying cause to those crises. However, I still think it is almost too simplistic to describe our crises in that way. I mean, I have needed/wanted to reinvent myself after a crisis at a few points in my life already, and I'm only 26. Are they all "quarter-life crises"? They don't fit that stereotypical pattern.
They can happen at various times depending on a person's personality, life experience, decisions, culture, economic circumstances, etc.
Sure but many people seem to have similar life experiences at the same age points, right? You're in your mid 20's, out of college and expected to know what it is to "be an adult". You're 50, your kids (that which you've identified with as your "cause and purpose" for 20 years) are gone and you need to "redefine" yourself and reclaim some of that time that you lost... hence the muscle car you've always wanted.
I understand that there are general distinct periods in a person's life that are associated with massive change, and this can cause people to rethink their position in life and their identity. However, I still think it is a little simplistic to name these crises distinctly. As I mentioned to lil above, I've already experienced a number of these events, and I know other people who have as well. Sometimes these crises don't follow in the stereotypical patterns.
Are they all "quarter-life crises"?
No they are just life crises, and there are many. In my blog, I was trying to describe the specific characteristics of a quarter-life crisis. Wikipedia says the symptoms come on when a person first faces "the real world" - the specific difficulties that coincide with realizing you are responsible for your life and that things might be harder than you thought. I don't think having my father die when I was 16 was related in any way to a quarter-life crisis. That was just a crappy thing that affected my family. The quarter-life crisis is a specific kind of disillusionment -- and I don't think it happens to everyone. (and maybe too, it doesn't exist) - Keep us posted on your NYC experiences.
Ya, I know I am being difficult with this. But I definitely see your point. I think we can find some general defining characteristics of these events in people's lives. Unfortunately, my NYC experience has been a little disappointing so far. I've caught a bad cold and I'm having trouble enjoying myself. I went to the MoMA today and Central Park.
There's no doubt that it is an over generalization and I would imagine that many people use the cliche as an excuse to purposefully exhibit bad behavior. But most cliches exist for a reason.
Ya, I mean I could be wrong. To be honest, my opinion here is uncharacteristically based off of my own personal experience and from anecdotal observations of people in my life.
Opinions are allowed to be based on personal experience and anecdotal observations :) In a lot of situations that's probably all most of us have to work from, unless you've somehow managed to research and memorize scientifically sound data on every possible aspect of life... I think the important distinction is in knowing that your opinion is based on potentially flimsy data paired with the ability to re-examine your opinion when presented with more robust information.
You're aloud to base your responses on your own experiences from time to time and not solely on compiled scientific data :)
I am? I feel a little uncomfortable making a claim without having a statistically significant p value to support it!
I have not reached the "mid life" yet but my guess is that a big difference between the two is that at the quarter life stage you are still narsasistic enough to think this crisis is unique to you. At the midlife point hopefully you're wise enough to recognize that many a human has traversed a similar crisis, so much so that its got a name and is considered cliche.