substitute

I suspect that more sophisticated culture requires a certain amount of training to appreciate, and we no longer use Universities for that kind of education, but rather use them as giant vocational training institutes. The emphasis on making money leaves little room for complex pleasures. I guess I think people are not growing up because they are at once being failed by the changed ideals for adulthood reflected in the modern education and the ease with which basic instinctual gratification can be had if you focus on the carrot instead of the scenery. This is sufficient and so completely sufficient that many are not even tempted to spend the effort to discover more.

I note that this tendency also produces solipsists, which is another childhood hangover, and solipsism breeds a contempt of all others to the extent that it makes sense to just kill them if they bug you and deride others for suggesting a more civilized and human approach to building a society while surviving its diseases.