On the other hand, I had parents who set rational limitations on my activities, while encouraging me to find my independence and explore things I found interesting. They took interest in the things I was interested in, but pushed me to pursue those things on my own.

I also became very independent very early on, because my parents were open with me about the things they did to take care of themselves as adults (they shared finances and budgeting, and included my sister and I in decisions about things like banking, insurance, major purchases, etc), so I knew how to be an adult.

Who knows, maybe this just shows that no matter what parents do, kids figure it out :D