ScienceWoman is a first-year assistant professor in -ology. She blogs about the intersection of science and real life - primarily based on her first-hand experiences. Her older posts can be found 
Alice Pawley is an assistant professor of I see so much in Minnow that reminds me of myself as a child. She's enthralled by books and loves to put things into containers in a very particular (mysterious) order often stopping to take things out and then put them back in until things are just right. I loved to read and organize things (still do) and spent hours playing librarian as a child. So I could argue for nature, in that she's following in my footsteps. Or I could argue for nurture in that she (like childhood me) is surrounded by books and a mom who loves to keep things organized.
But then there's the whole issue of the mac n' cheese...
I love all things dairy (particularly ice cream) and mac n' cheese is one of my comfort foods. I like pretty much all brands and flavors of mac n' cheese. There's only one flavor I'm not wild about: Annie's Peace Pasta and Parmesan.
Minnow is very particular about her dairy products (yogurt, yes, pretty much everything else, no). There's only one flavor of mac n' cheese that she will eat. You guessed it: Peace Pasta and Parmesan.
So, nature, nurture, or independence?
I'll vote for independence - she's her own little person. More amazing every day.
Brain & Behavior
Comments
This one made me smile again.
Methinks as mac and cheese is to food, Sciencewomen is to blogs. Warm and comforting indeed!
Posted by: Becca | April 28, 2008 10:13 PM
My daughter, as a mature person, made the comment to her parents, "It scares me how much of you guys I see in myself." I have vague understanding of a theory which says I am a composit of three personas: my parents, me as a child, and me as present adult. Each persona has different strengths and functions and should be allowed to surface appropriately. Whatever..
Posted by: Jim Thomerson | April 29, 2008 10:52 AM
Mmm... aren't you forgetting Minnow's dad's taste?
And also in the reply by Jim, it would be 4 people.
I'm single with no children, but working as a school teacher has made me indeed realize how much of my parents I am with children and young people. Specially the very fact of being a teacher, since mom was one, and the way i organise all the classes and records, she never told me but I do it unconsciously the way she did. I enjoy most of those things, and guess they're hard to change, so just keep trying to use them for the best.
Posted by: Gabriel | April 29, 2008 12:04 PM