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How culture influences smell perception


Podo

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I had no sense of smell until I was 21. I'm 26 now, and therefore have the same experience with smells as a five-year-old child. Gaining a sense of smell this late in life has made me realize that our perception is smell is heavily influenced by the things we're necessarily taught as children, but wouldn't get as an adult. A great example is garbage: the sickly-sweet smell of decomposing organics is generally a negative smell for people, because when they were children they were (likely) told not to play in or around the garbage can. I didn't smell it until I was an adult, however, so I actually kind of like it because of the aforementioned sweetness. Another example is humans: even if a human smells "good," I can't stand being able to smell them. If I can smell a human, at all, I find it super gross. The aversion appears to be slowly fading, so hopefully I'll be able to walk into a crowd without gagging by the time I'm in my 30s :D

I don't really have a hard point to this post, beyond drawing attention to the realization that our social norms influence how we respond to smells, rather than the other way around. I started thinking about it after having a conversation with some friends who had commented that my kitchen smelled like salmon guts after I'd had a good day's fishing. It really didn't occur to me that it would be a bad smell, as I loved it. We started talking about how smells are tied to memory, and since I have only recently had smells, I only tie them to recent adult memories. It is a small thing, but it definitely affects how I respond to common things. I can't stand the smell of coffee and will avoid coffee shops like the plague, but I love the smell of weird things like rain on concrete, or the smell of brown paper bags. There are no attachments to my perception of smells, so it's almost as though I can perceive them without any associated baggage.

 

What are your favourite and least favourite smells? Share with me your weird smell stories (if you have them). Or, just suggest weird things for me to smell. There is a whole stinky world out there for me that I haven't experienced.

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25 minutes ago, Podo said:

What are your favourite and least favourite smells? Share with me your weird smell stories (if you have them). Or, just suggest weird things for me to smell. There is a whole stinky world out there for me that I haven't experienced.

I've got a very poor sense of smell, normally not aware of any odours, even extreme ones, then sometimes I get a sense of what people are talking about.  

There's something known colloquially as the 'neuro smell' it's given off by people with a serious head injury, associated often with a poor prognosis. Anyway, where I work some people will remark on it, and some don't seem to know what they're talking about. I'd never smelled it, until a few weeks ago when I leaned over a neuro patient and was hit  by an overpoweringly strong smell. I remarked on it to my friend next to me who replied that he'd never smelled it and had no idea what people were on about. Strange I thought.

Smells  which I can pick up and would recommend would be, tar, rubber, dry roast peanuts, leather, and I can't think of anymore I'd recommend as I don't know many. 

Edit, try sniffing a dog's coat, obviously exercise some selectivity as to which dog, but if you get the right one it's the freshest smell I've ever encountered. 

Edited by oldrover
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Guest MamaMia1981

My favorite smells; my children.  Their hair.  People talk about the way babies smell...nature makes small children smell good so you want to cuddle them.

Flowers....roses, gardenias, lilacs, lavender.  Love them all.

Anything with garlic; chocolate, coffee.  Bacon!!!!  Meat on a grill, too.  Something primitive about it...

Large bodies of water.  Salt water and fresh water smell different but I like them both.

Old books....certain wood products.  Leather.  My cats also smell good to me.

Forests.  Particularly on a cool day, in the fall when there are leaves on the ground.

I like the smell of bleach and gasoline, too.

I can't stand the smell of skunk.  Stagnant air, no matter where it is....old sweat.  Dirty feet.  Vomit, blood.  I guess all the things you'd think were unpleasant.

Oldrover mentioned the smell from neuro patients...as a healthcare provider, people take on a smell when they are close to death.  It's a sickly sweet, kinda cloying smell.  Like warm rotten leaves.  Not everyone can pick it up.  I've trained my partner how to smell it.  

As far as what you find pleasant or unpleasant, I wouldn't worry too much about social norms.  Everyone is different.  I know people who like the smell of skunk....I thinks it's really about what you are used to, and how your brain is wired.

Welcome to the world of the smelling.:D

Edit: I have to say, I have a hyper sensitive sense of smell.  Always have.  Example: My husband brushed his teeth the other day, and was about 12 feet from me, and I could smell it.  I can tell when certain co workers walk in the department because I pick up their scent through the ventilation system.  It can be a blessing and a curse.

 

Edited by MamaMia1981
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7 hours ago, Podo said:

What are your favourite and least favourite smells? Share with me your weird smell stories (if you have them). Or, just suggest weird things for me to smell. There is a whole stinky world out there for me that I haven't experienced.

My two equally favorite smells are the smell of well cured quality Indica, and the way the banks of a river or lake smell in the early morning.....My least favorite is the aura smell I get when my MS is flaring up, its like someone lit a cigarette in my sinus cavities and I cant get rid of it. 

Cool story , I cant imagine not being able to smell . Thanks for the share. 

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13 hours ago, MamaMia1981 said:

Flowers....roses, gardenias, lilacs, lavender.  Love them all.

Flowers make me gag. I can't stand them! I like general wilderness smell, of being in the deep forest (in which there are often flowers) but in general flowers smell way too strong to be pleasant for me.

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Guest MamaMia1981
On 3/29/2017 at 1:04 PM, Podo said:

Flowers make me gag. I can't stand them! I like general wilderness smell, of being in the deep forest (in which there are often flowers) but in general flowers smell way too strong to be pleasant for me.

I have lilac bushes in my backyard.  In the summer months, I open my windows, and can lay on my couch and the smell flows in on the breeze.  Like a sliver of heaven.

Edited by MamaMia1981
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1 hour ago, Sweetpumper said:

Fresh cut grass. Fresh cut wood. Campfires. Gasoline. Pot Roast.

I do like grass and wood! Can't say I'm partial to gasoline since it's very overwhelming. Pot roast I'm not sure about, since I tend not to eat red meat. Thanks for your suggestion, I'll seek out the smell somewhere :)

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On March 28, 2017 at 2:56 PM, oldrover said:

There's something known colloquially as the 'neuro smell' it's given off by people with a serious head injury, associated often with a poor prognosis.

Is that while they're unconscious and/or unable to wash themselves?

On April 4, 2017 at 1:12 PM, Podo said:

I do like grass and wood! Can't say I'm partial to gasoline since it's very overwhelming. Pot roast I'm not sure about, since I tend not to eat red meat. Thanks for your suggestion, I'll seek out the smell somewhere :)

I'm glad you have a sense of smell now.

Do you like the smell of baked goods or, maybe, cinnamon toast?

Many of the aromas I like have been mentioned.  But, while I was thinking of my favorite scents, one mare came to mind.  She is the sweetest smelling horse I've ever been around.

Edited by aka CAT
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8 hours ago, aka CAT said:

Is that while they're unconscious and/or unable to wash themselves?

Oh no, unconscious patients get washed several times a day. This is something else, it comes from the mouth. 

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I don't have a strong sense of smell either......lots of times when I'm with someone and we're some place and they're like "that reeked" or "did you smell that"...:mellow:

But the over-powering sense that I do enjoy are baking sense --- cinnamon and apples.  Rain and fresh cut grass.

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1 hour ago, oldrover said:

[...] it comes from the mouth. 

I wondered about that, too.  It seems like the mouth and throat of a comatose person would get increasingly dry over time.

1 hour ago, nativechick1989 said:

I do enjoy [...] cinnamon and apples.  Rain and fresh cut grass.

Everything seems fresher after a rain.

The more I think about it, many natural scents appeal to me.

On March 28, 2017 at 2:39 PM, Podo said:

even if a human smells "good," I can't stand being able to smell them.

The amount of 'personal space' people require varies.  Generally, I'm not in close proximity with strangers and rarely have occasion to give much thought to what they last ate, the liberality with which they scent themselves, how long ago someone might have bathed ...&c.  And I gave very little thought to pheromones before I met my irresistible spouse, who I discourage from using cologne.

Edited by aka CAT
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1 hour ago, aka CAT said:

I wondered about that, too.  It seems like the mouth and throat of a comatose person would get increasingly dry over time.

Yes they do, especially as in the vast majority of cases these people will be intubated and have their mouths partially open. This is why there's a lot of attention paid to this. Believe me this smell is distinct. I can't swear that it's definitely a 'thing' because I've smelled it only once. But it is well known among my ex neuro colleagues. According to them, and in the one case I did notice it, it's associated with severe brain injury.  Believe me, as I say it is distinct from the many smells associated with unconscious patients. I am told  though, there is no explanation for what it is. 

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Morning breath is something after a single night's fast.  As a child, I really had to wonder about Sleeping Beauty-- 100 years.  Five days were five too many for me more than twenty years ago, which seems like a lifetime for my having almost nothing in common now with my mostly forgotten former self.  Yet, fortunate as have been I, I can't complain.

0:-) MGby.

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