Ooooo, this is interesting because it seems like there isn’t a very strong line between childhood and adulthood on the Sixth. Pal is able to pass a series of exams that make him the leader of his people by the time he’s thirteen, and it seems pretty clear that adulthood vs. childhood is more defined by moving up through the academic ranks than age.

All of that said! I’d guess that he’d call “childhood” his life before age ten or so, and he’d probably call it uneventful, happy, and productive. He grew up in a society that fed and encouraged his intelligence, had great parents, and succeeded at his every ambition. That definitely impacted him: it gave him his warmth and his confidence, though it also made him arrogant and bad with failure. I don’t think he would ever choose to go back to childhood—he is very much someone who believes in looking forward—but from time to time he misses the simplicity and innocence.