Fun fact of the day: I am fascinated by the sense of smell, or rather the sense of smell's connection to other senses and human capabilities. I find three things fascinating here:
1. The relation between smell and taste. I tend to describe taste and smell in the same way, I will say, "this tastes like the smell of ______". When you think about it, that does not really make sense at all, but it is how I associate things, and I do not think I am alone in this.
2. This brings me to my next point; Smell and association. I feel like even though we don't go around sniffing each other like Basset Hounds, we identify people with smells. Certain people, and even families tend to have a particular smell. You walk in to the house and there is a certain smell, not good or bad, and you associate it with that person or family. Most people don't know their own smell. I noticed this when I came home from college the first time. It had been about two months since being home, and upon entering my house it was the strangest smell to me. Everytime I have returned since, I have actually familiarized that smell with me home.
3. In addition to how we associate things with smells, the connection between smell and memory, especially for me at least, is very strong. Smells bring up many memories for me, if I smell something that I associate with someone I remember so much about them and experiences together. Smells can even bring up emotions that go with that person or memory, almost instantly. One instance, is the smell of the oral surgeon's office. Getting oral surgery was one of my least favorite experiences, an if I smell the same clean smell from that office, I actually feel nervous. It works the other way around too, if I think about the experience, I can imagine the smell.
So this post might seem odd, or peg me as strange for having such a fascination. That is fine. It is jus one of those things that I do not understand but find interesting.
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