> From: Jon Carey [mailto:greyw01f at hotmail.com] > Evolutionarily speaking, the idea of a 30 year old baby is simply > ridiculous. Anyone with a child knows that for the most > part, infants are > basically leeches, parasites that are entirely dependent on > the parents for > support. Thankfully this doesn't last long, because someone > who is almost > entirely vulnerable unless a parent is around is simply not likely to > survive very long. That's why babies grow so damn quick when > they're really > young, and then the aging process starts to slow... > > But to think--if a child cannot walk, communicate, etc, then > the act of > parenting becomes not only a curse but an extremely > improbable one. What > baby would survive like that for 30 years? There must be *some* > evolutionary method of keeping the child safe for such a duration. It's my belief that there has to be a rapid growth period. A period after which the child is mobile, able to do fairly basic tasks (minimum for survival, e.g. food placed in front of the child is taken by the child and eaten, etc.) but then hits a "slow" point in growth both physically and mentally. Also, it could be that new-born Dragaerans are not helpless. Homo Sapiens are at birth, but that doesn't mean Dragaerans are. I think with some (blatant?) planning of "slow growth rate" and "fast growth rate" we could even make the evidence reconcile, that is we could make the comments in Jhereg "fit in" with what we know of Savn and Polyi. I'm not sure Young Khaavren and Piro count, since they are the "Heroic" subjects of Paarfi's saga. Their maturity could be exaggerated. ------ Rachel commented on what was considered to be an adult in prior eras. It has always been my belief that while people of a younger age were _treated_ as adults (e.g. they were given adult responsibilities, could order people around, take part in council, vote, etc.), they did not actually have the emotional maturity required. A few probably did, but I suspect most did not. ------ Hasn't someone done an in-depth analysis of this previously? I seem to remember a discussion involving actual numbers. :)