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That would be one advantage...OTOH, there's that problem of hair balls blocking up your stomach.
Can you imagine Miss Manners or Emily Post describing socially acceptable, discreet ways for a human to get rid of a hairball? I suppose almost anything would be better than gacking one up on the host's carpet during a dinner party! Oh Gawd...why did I have to come up with that? Now I can't get the idea out of my head! An earworm accompanied by visuals.
Last edited by Parnassia; 04-13-2023 at 04:34 PM..
I subscribe to The Week magazine and they've always got some unusual story printed, this comes from the 4/14/23 issue, so here we go:
"Scientists in Sweden have found a new treatment for social anxiety: Sniffing other people's body odor. Researchers at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm who used mindfulness exercises to treat women's social anxiety found that women who were exposed to the smell of armpit sweat collected from volunteers responded better to the therapy. Researcher Elisa Vigna said her team was "a little surprised" at the result, which may indicate that sweat contains "chemo-signals" that affect emotions."
Anyone up for the experiment?
Probably already commented on, but yes pheromones are thought to have a great effect chemically on people (have not done any personal research on it but I have heard these chemicals may be in part responsible for that attraction people can have for each other in romantic relationships).
Personally, I found my husband's body odor to be very comforting to me (thought I can't say it had much to do with my initial attraction to him since we had met over the internet where of course I wouldn't have had access to his scent. But I'm sure glad it turned out that way, I suppose, like if those pheromones do have a significant role in why some people are attracted to one person but not another.
One other personal example of the role pheromones play in attraction is an anecdotal account of my ex-boyfriend who also mentioned that the scent of the other person has to be right. So, it can certainly have an effect with some people, maybe more than we realize).
One other thing I noticed when skimming the first couple of responses (and that's all I have time for)--body odor doesn't necessarily have to be bad--when someone uses deodorant, that person still has an odor (like when I liked to sniff my husband--at the curve of his neck all the time--it wasn't like he wasn't wearing deodorant! Both he and I though, we don't wear any other scents that are like popular now like whatever it is people wear now what is it, perfume? Something else? I want to say it's something else. But for me and for him when he was living it's just deodorant and the rest is natural. Which I personally don't find bad at all).
Probably already commented on, but yes pheromones are thought to have a great effect chemically on people (have not done any personal research on it but I have heard these chemicals may be in part responsible for that attraction people can have for each other in romantic relationships).
Personally, I found my husband's body odor to be very comforting to me (thought I can't say it had much to do with my initial attraction to him since we had met over the internet where of course I wouldn't have had access to his scent. But I'm sure glad it turned out that way, I suppose, like if those pheromones do have a significant role in why some people are attracted to one person but not another.
One other personal example of the role pheromones play in attraction is an anecdotal account of my ex-boyfriend who also mentioned that the scent of the other person has to be right. So, it can certainly have an effect with some people, maybe more than we realize).
Actually, many pheromones do not have a "scent". That doesn't mean they don't get transmitted along with a person's body odor.
I wonder who got to smell the woman who emerged from voluntary isolation in a cave for her first shower in 18 months today. They must be reeeeeally healthy now.
Can you imagine a "Meet & Greet" if humans approached each other the way strange dogs do?
I know this is joking of course, but it reminded me...
One of our vendors comes in once a week to change out our secured documents waste bins. He always smells so nice. I don't know what his cologne is...but I like it a lot. I even told him once, how nice he smelled. LOL
Smelling nice or good can definitely affect one's impression of someone. That's for sure.
Don't go there. Xenophobia and racism are not quite the same thing.
Case 1: A person who emigrated from another country happens to be the same race you are (Caucasian, Asian, whatever). If you are a xenophobe you'd fear, hate, or discriminate against them because they immigrated.
Case 2: A multi-generational resident of your own country is a different race than you. If you hate, fear, or discriminate against them because of that, you're a racist, not a xenophobe.
Legitimate science isn't racist in itself though it can certainly document subjects who are.
Last edited by Parnassia; 04-18-2023 at 03:59 PM..
That article is just plain silly and ludicrous. My grandparents immigrated to America from a foreign country. (We are from Ishmael's crew for those who are Bible literate). They were interviewed in the city newspaper and there was a story written about them. Opened a grocery store, raised kids, bought some real estate, etc. and some of the kids (my dad, aunts and uncles) were quite successful, one being a well known neurosurgeon in California.
The bottom line is stench is stench. What stinks stinks. No explanation, no justification. It is like lifting the lid of a smelly garbage can and stepping back in repulsion. And I don't like nasty smells. The thought of carrying stench around for others to smell is mortifying to me so if there is one area I am OCD about, it is being clean.
Not so complicated. Anyhows, back to envying my sweet smelling 15 year old cat who has never bathed or brushed her teeth.
This reminds me of something I read in National Geographic years and years ago (so my details are sketchy).
Some white people were visiting an African tribe. Everyone was trying to be polite, but the Africans thought the white folks were smelly, and the white folks thought the Africans were smelly. The white folks were used to cleaning themselves with soap and water, and smelling like soap. To them (us) that was 'clean' smelling.
The tribe was used to their own scent, and didn't think of themselves as smelling 'bad'. They all smelled the same, and that was normal to them.
But to both groups, the 'other' was off putting to them.
People who live in Japan think Europeans and Americans smell weird.
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Don't go there. Xenophobia and racism are not quite the same thing. 
