Blog Post #2 - Kayla Snell

Thinking about how I grew up is always an interesting experience. Although my parents were loving, supportive, and generous, they were also strict, overbearing, and a bit paranoid. Often times, this lead to things getting way blown out of proportion. The biggest one that comes to mind was how in middle school my parents thought I had seasonal depression. On the one hand, I can sort of see how they came to that conclusion. During summer I was a happy and cheerful kid, but in winter I was super upset all the time. On the other, it was more reasonably the result of my winter blues and their worrying. But I didn't know the difference, as I was still a kid and never actually saw a professional about it.

Regardless, it definitely shaped my attitude about who I am for the longest time. It was so easy to attribute any persistent negative mood to "that seasonal depression kicking in". Looking back, I realize that not only is it really weird to have had that mentality at all, but also I definitely don't have this condition, as I haven't had any issues since growing up. In actuality, I was just a teenager experiencing some growing pains. This is how techno-science has shaped my life, as without any prior knowledge of the condition, my parents would never have thought this is something I might have.

I can imagine that if Lewontin and Pinker heard my story, there would be an academic fight over it. Lewontin would definitely have reason to think that my story supports his argument. For one, this experience shaped me as a person for years. It also turned any normal change in mood to mean that something was wrong with me. On the other hand, Pinker would take one look at my mother, who has had similar issues as I did in the past, and say "Oh no, obviously this is entirely genetic. She is like this because her genes made her this way, not because she was informed she had a disorder." In conclusion, growing up was very weird sometimes.