The Guy That Fits

The brain works at all times to compartmentalize—to sort new information on its likeness to things already known. It is why we may look at an orange, a baseball, and a globe and conclude they are all spheres. And this concept extends to human relationships as well. We chose relationships based on similitudes—we measure how much individuals fit a mold. We discard or disassociate from people who too closely resemble those who we are not particularly fond of.

Mitchell was a classmate of mine in college. We shared the same major: biology. And as the academic program was quite tight, Mitchell was scheduled in nearly all of my science classes.

I did not care for Mitchell all that much.

Mitchell, in General Chemistry 101, learned a universal fact: some molecules had handedness—they were called isomers. And just like a left glove does not fit the right hand, isomers react with other molecules based on their distinct orientation.

And from freshman year until senior year, in every single science class: biology, chemistry and physics—Mitchell, at some point in the semester, would ask the professor What role do isomers play in all of this?

Mitchell of course knew the answer. He had asked it over twenty different times. He was attempting to impress the professors with the one fact he had under his belt. And it got to the point where the boys would heckle from the back of the classroom Hey Mitchell--when are you going to ask your isomer question?

And yesterday, Senator Paul Ryan was on Meet the Press. His purpose was to present his views on the economy. But unfortunately the man uncannily reminds me of Mitchell. My brain compartmentalizes him—rightly or wrongly-- as a one fact pony. All of Ryan’s words on the economy morphed into we should be asking ourselves, the American people, what role isomers play in all of this.

And only D-glucose, not its isomer L-glucose, can be metabolized by the human body. The enzymes in our cells are stereospecific and stereoselective—they only react with one conformation of sugar. Our cells reject molecules that do not fit.

And because I reject Mitchell, I reject Senator Ryan. Because people, like molecules, are also stereoselective and stereospecific. We pick the guy that fits. Our brain is one giant isomer.