Carl Zimmer

But I would just broadly say that heredity is what the past gave the present and what the present is going to leave for the future.

I think a lot of things that we single out are just quirk.

There are things that lots of people have, and it just so happens that one of your many, many relatives has it in common with you.

It's a bit like astrology that way.

Yeah, you can find some coincidences that seem compelling, but I think we need to sort of look deeper.

And it is possible that you are similar to your parents, not necessarily because you share genes with them, but also because they raised you.

and you are paying very close attention to them, like it or not, and you are getting to be like them.

That's not to say that genetics don't play a role.

I mean, you know, tall people tend to have tall children and short people tend to have short children.

I mean, that's a fact.

But it's not simple, you know, and it's perfectly normal to have people who are very short have kids who are very tall and vice versa.

That happens.

So to really understand who you are,

and how you tie to the past is no simple job at all.

I don't think science can really deliver us the definitive answer for those sorts of questions.

But you hear people say that.

I mean, I've said that about my daughter.

And I'll hear other people talking about some trait.

And we're very convinced that that's where it came from.

And to me, this underlying science is so fascinating and complex.