Homo adolescentis: A Structural Hypothesis on the Symbolic Immaturity of the Human Species

This article proposes that Homo sapiens exhibits not merely a prolonged adolescence in developmental terms, but a structural immaturity that defines the species across cultural and historical contexts. Drawing from symbolic anthropology, evolutionary theory, and developmental psychology, we introduce the hypothesis of Homo adolescentis to account for the persistence of hypersexuality, identity instability, emotional volatility, and performative behavior as enduring features of human societies.The model is situated within the framework of cultural neoteny, suggesting that the symbolic explosion in human evolution outpaced emotional and normative maturation. Comparative examples from domesticated species—such as dogs and cats—are used to illustrate the adaptive value of retained juvenile traits, which in humans may have facilitated innovation, creativity, and symbolic complexity at the cost of structural instability.We argue that the notion of “maturity” itself is culturally ambivalent, and that what is often perceived as developmental deficiency may in fact constitute a unique evolutionary strategy. By rethinking human nature through the lens of symbolic adolescence, this hypothesis offers a novel perspective on the contradictions, excesses, and potentials of the human condition.