r/AllThatsInteresting • u/Dreximaxi • 5d ago
you would expect that the same substance should smell the same to different people.
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u/SignificantCar4204 4d ago
I finally got over my childhood obsession with "Is my red the same as your red?" and this brought it right back son of a bitch.
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u/dazzleunexpired 3d ago edited 3d ago
There is a website for this now.
The answer is almost universally: no. We do not class colors the same way. Colors are not the same, although we probably see the same spectral colors in the same category as others. As long as humans that are participating only have three color cones and as long as none of them have a mutation to any of the color cones. I have four color cones, tho. So I see many, many more colors than normal people. My additional colors are in the red-green spectrum. The mutation that causes it is the same mutation that would cause color blindness in men. Because they only have One x chromosome and I have two. The mutation on One x chromosome causes color blindness and on two x chromosomes it causes additional color cones. Because of this, my spectral colors are sometimes in a different category depending. If we're talking pure spectral colors, we all see them the exact same except for color blind individuals. (The spectral colors are red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, violet. Indigo doesn't exist.)
The only way to know for sure if you have an additional color cone is through a gene test.
Fun fact: animals with more or less than three color cones don't see a white sun. But I do. Because it's a mutated red green cone I have an additional of, not an additional or all new cone.
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u/rygelicus 3d ago
Stranger wants you to sniff something in an unmarked bottle... the correct answer is no.
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u/Cooter_McGrabbin 4d ago
If you go to r/cologne or r/fragrances you can see countless examples of fragrances that many people love whilst others swear its smells like lemon pledge or some other not so attractive thing.
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u/Early_Hall5720 4d ago
We both have no way to confirm if we see the same colors, and on top of that I'm colorblind so I don't even know wtf I'm supposed to be seeing.
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u/OGLikeablefellow 3d ago
There's pretty convincing research into brain waves that we actually do experience colors the same way in our brains
https://www.kyb.tuebingen.mpg.de/846256/news_publication_25354246_transferred
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u/Dath_1 3d ago
Most people think that the senses are reliable, and objective
Sorry, what? Sensory perception is acknowledged by most people to be subjective.
It’s just kind of obvious from experience, that whether something tastes or smells or looks or sounds good, is a subjective matter.
I mean I wonder why she thinks most people think that.
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u/RareCorey 4d ago
Because smells are solid, 3D objects that we all experience in an identical way?
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u/KailyKail 4d ago
I mean, technically, they are 3D. I’m not sure how states of matter work at the molecular level, but they’re definitely 3D.
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u/loveinamandala 4d ago
This could change someone’s life. Imagine meeting a person when you both feel attraction. Then the other person smells like a urinal. Sliding doors people …..
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u/wrudstepbro 4d ago
Fun fact, androstenone is used to make pigs horny.
They've done experiments on humans to see if it has pheramonal effects, with mixed results. Its definitely worth going down a google rabbit hole if you want some interesting reads. One study found that when it was applied to a seat in a dentists office, women and homosexual men were more likely to sit there, but heterosexual men were not.
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u/Whole_Rough7066 4d ago
I keep saying it, it's not me who stinks, it's your nose that smells bad. 💩
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u/Back_Again_Beach 4d ago
Why would I expect that when differing preferences exist in just about every aspect of existence?
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u/Worldly-Bug6047 4d ago
This makes me think of a woman I was with for almost a decade in my younger years. I bet this compound is the reason her armpits smelt sweet and of flowers to me. I knew the mechanism, and I knew it meant we were genetically compatible. Interesting.
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u/OsKNightOwl 4d ago
Oh yo! .......So it turns out... Cleopatra actually discovered this same sort of thing way back during her time when she was attempting to create her own perfumes.... (As she was sick of smelling the horse and camel stables outside funnily enough!) .But that's one reason she basically invented perfume...to mask unpleasant scents... As well as something to use to put people in a better mood they the day ...
I definitely recall reading that she discovered the same scent smelling entirely different to a variety of people..... Like a scent smelling like pee to her people but strangely ... foreigners like Alexander the Great (that she apparently dated?? Lol!) ...they loved the scent and to them it smelled of vanilla and lavender??
She had this exact thing happening it seemed but back then had no idea it was a genetics thing .... Lol
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u/Mediocre-Sundom 4d ago edited 4d ago
This is a video that must be mandatory to watch to anyone who asks others for “good” cologne or fragrance recommendations.
The sense of smell is extremely subjective. Not just because of biology or genetics, but also because of how closely it is linked to learned experiences and memories. People literally learn to like specific smells the same way they learn to like the taste of some foods (which is also largely dependent on their smell by the way - that’s why food becomes tasteless when you have a sinus infection, rhinitis, etc.).
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u/not_so_impressed 3d ago
Interesting. I've always enjoyed the smell of cigarette smoke. It smells pleasant and soothing to me even though I never have smoked myself. My mom mentioned one day that when I was an infant I loved an uncle who happened to be a chain smoker. He passed away before I could remember him, but I have photos of him where I'm with him and I always have the biggest gummy smile on my face.
Have no idea if that's why I enjoy the smell, but it would track with the memories and experiences thing.
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u/longlivescience 3d ago
I bet it smells like the case my brother used to store his steroids in. Like a terrible mix of ammonia, armpits and sweaty feet smell...how that could be floral or vanilla to anyone is interesting af...but I never believed we all smell or sense things the exact same way. Its obvious those are subjective and we experience the world a bit differently.
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u/devour_feculence___ 3d ago
I lost most of my sense of smell after having COVID a couple of times. I can't smell anything really, except bad smells, like stinky garbage.
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u/quim_do_mato 5d ago
No, you would not expect that