Posts Tagged ‘Biology’
Oreo Instinct, part One
The first time I ever gave my daughter Betsy, now three and a half, an Oreo cookie, she pulled it apart, licked the center clean of icing, and then ate each half cookie separately. I was baffled. This is a kid who’s never seen a commercial for Oreos in her life, nor had she ever seen anyone eat one. “Another,” she declared. I gave her one. The same process ensued, after which, with some cajoling, she drank the rest of her milk, and left. An ordinary snack time experience, but one worth considering; why do young humans explore, and old ones accept? What makes us bite into the cookie instead of pulling it apart?
