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The apparent tendency for the time period referred to by the term "generation" to shrink, and the corresponding tendency for the duration of an "age" to contract have been explained as the cultural consequences of the increased pace of technological change and the repeated cataclysmic social upheavals to which the century has been witness — upheavals which create sudden discontinuities between the age groups upon which they have had a sharp impact and the age groups to which they are only "history." But even putting aside the circular logic that usually lies behind this kind of formulation, there is really very little evidence to suggest that recent generations are coming to maturity in quicker succession than in previous centuries. Far from generations coming to maturity more rapidly today than in previous centuries, what little evidence there is seems to suggest the opposite. The age at which one enters adolescence appears in general to be getting lower, whereas the age at which one becomes a mature adult appears in general to be getting higher; the period of adolescence is thus expanded.