What can a bag of chips tell us about culture? Quite a lot.

Our family tradition of trying unusual chip flavors around the world is mostly for fun—but it’s also a reminder that taste, preference, and even what we consider “normal” are shaped by culture, familiarity, expectations, and experience.

I walked into ISN nervous, unsure how I’d fit among such an extraordinary roster. I walked out feeling energized, inspired, and grateful to have contributed.

Two days of rich, cross-disciplinary science reminded me that understanding food, flavor, and behavior requires more than treating people like machines. We need to embrace the quirks, the biases, and yes, even the cookie stomachs, that make us human.