Things you always wanted to know the answer to [Vol. 5]
Discussion
Doofus said:
silverfoxcc said:
With HGV.. do they also include the swept area of the bodywork?
Come to that, do they do it with cars, or is it the tyre footprint?Saleen836 said:
Why do bad smells linger in our memory but nice smells don't?
Drove past a pig farm other day and as we all know pig s*it stinks,when I arrived home approx 15mins later and got out of my van I could still smell pig sh*t
Good ones can too. I visited Chisinau in Moldova 10 years ago. Thanks to a certain type of tree found in abundance in the city and a large sweet factory, it is by some margin, the most wonderfully fragrant city I've ever visited and can still 'remember' the smell now.Drove past a pig farm other day and as we all know pig s*it stinks,when I arrived home approx 15mins later and got out of my van I could still smell pig sh*t
The question I'd ask is what makes a smell bad or good? Why do we react to pig s
t differently to how we react to a dab of Creed? What informed our evolution in this way?Why are farts like children.... in that you love and cherish your own but hate everyone else's?
StevieBee said:
Saleen836 said:
Why do bad smells linger in our memory but nice smells don't?
Drove past a pig farm other day and as we all know pig s*it stinks,when I arrived home approx 15mins later and got out of my van I could still smell pig sh*t
Good ones can too. I visited Chisinau in Moldova 10 years ago. Thanks to a certain type of tree found in abundance in the city and a large sweet factory, it is by some margin, the most wonderfully fragrant city I've ever visited and can still 'remember' the smell now.Drove past a pig farm other day and as we all know pig s*it stinks,when I arrived home approx 15mins later and got out of my van I could still smell pig sh*t
The question I'd ask is what makes a smell bad or good? Why do we react to pig s
t differently to how we react to a dab of Creed? What informed our evolution in this way?Why are farts like children.... in that you love and cherish your own but hate everyone else's?
I've read that smell is the most evocative sense. That we have 'smell memories' that can last decades and take us back to very specific circumstances in our past. I can easily recognise someone wearing the same perfume as my first girlfriend from just a tiny whiff in passing, stuff like that.
StevieBee said:
The question I'd ask is what makes a smell bad or good? Why do we react to pig st differently to how we react to a dab of Creed? What informed our evolution in this way?
Whether it's hazardous will typically cause the strongest dislike, those who evolved to dislike the smell of dangerous substances will have survived better than those who thought "oooh, pig st differently to how we react to a dab of Creed? What informed our evolution in this way?t, that smells delicious"As for 'good' smells, possibly harder, I'd imagine most cooking food would be advantageous to be drawn to, also thinks like flowers etc. perhaps correspond with fertile soil that's good for crops etc., again, those drawn to fertile areas would have been more successful.
Then there's a bit of learned association, I don't imagine we naturally like the smell of hot oil and petrol, but over time we associate it with enjoyable experiences and thus like the smell. Likewise perhaps an alcoholic parent may put someone off the smell of whiskey / vodka or some such due to the association.
So as with most things, presumably a bit of nature and a bit of nurture.
SpeckledJim said:
I've read that smell is the most evocative sense. That we have 'smell memories' that can last decades and take us back to very specific circumstances in our past. I can easily recognise someone wearing the same perfume as my first girlfriend from just a tiny whiff in passing, stuff like that.
There's an interesting thing with memory and our sight, for example if you see someone, you can generally recognise them quite easily and also can picture what they look like in your head.However, if you try to describe this person, typically you don't have the vocabulary to describe accurately enough the nuances of the face, and so your description isn't very good. By then attaching the less accurate verbiage to the memory, as I understand it you actually distort the mental image, as your brain merges the memory with the images conjured up by what you have described ("he had eyes a bit like Nicolas Cage but more of a David Coulthard jaw" etc.
)I wonder if because we don't tend to over analyse smells or consciously think about them too much, the recollection of them stays more 'pure' in the brain, hence is so much more recognisable even after a long time?
SturdyHSV said:
SpeckledJim said:
I've read that smell is the most evocative sense. That we have 'smell memories' that can last decades and take us back to very specific circumstances in our past. I can easily recognise someone wearing the same perfume as my first girlfriend from just a tiny whiff in passing, stuff like that.
There's an interesting thing with memory and our sight, for example if you see someone, you can generally recognise them quite easily and also can picture what they look like in your head.However, if you try to describe this person, typically you don't have the vocabulary to describe accurately enough the nuances of the face, and so your description isn't very good. By then attaching the less accurate verbiage to the memory, as I understand it you actually distort the mental image, as your brain merges the memory with the images conjured up by what you have described ("he had eyes a bit like Nicolas Cage but more of a David Coulthard jaw" etc.
)I wonder if because we don't tend to over analyse smells or consciously think about them too much, the recollection of them stays more 'pure' in the brain, hence is so much more recognisable even after a long time?
Like a particular disinfectant used in a hotel being the same as one used in your school, that sort of thing.
SCEtoAUX said:
Why the fk does it take women so fking long to dry their fking hair? Wife has been doing it for twenty minutes now, sounds like a fking airbus.
I'm guessing you have never had long hair? k does it take women so fking long to dry their fking hair? Wife has been doing it for twenty minutes now, sounds like a fking airbus.
Maybe insist she gets a 'short back & sides' so as to speed things up. See how that goes.
SCEtoAUX said:
Why the fk does it take women so fking long to dry their fking hair? Wife has been doing it for twenty minutes now, sounds like a fking airbus.
Cos they're eating all the toilet rolls. That's the only reason I can think of for 24 bog rolls disappearing in about 3 days flat. k does it take women so fking long to dry their fking hair? Wife has been doing it for twenty minutes now, sounds like a fking airbus.Clockwork Cupcake said:
SCEtoAUX said:
Why the fk does it take women so fking long to dry their fking hair? Wife has been doing it for twenty minutes now, sounds like a fking airbus.
I'm guessing you have never had long hair? k does it take women so fking long to dry their fking hair? Wife has been doing it for twenty minutes now, sounds like a fking airbus.Maybe insist she gets a 'short back & sides' so as to speed things up. See how that goes.
Staggers me quite how much water comes out of my beard since I've grown it (there's bugger all hair to get wet up top!).
My other half has a massive mane of hair to dry - and once saturated then it takes ages.
OpulentBob said:
Cos they're eating all the toilet rolls. That's the only reason I can think of for 24 bog rolls disappearing in about 3 days flat.
I rub toilet paper up and down my cleavage to try to make my bewbs bigger, on the grounds that it appears to have worked for my arse over the years. 
Clockwork Cupcake said:
OpulentBob said:
Cos they're eating all the toilet rolls. That's the only reason I can think of for 24 bog rolls disappearing in about 3 days flat.
I rub toilet paper up and down my cleavage to try to make my bewbs bigger, on the grounds that it appears to have worked for my arse over the years. SturdyHSV said:
There's an interesting thing with memory and our sight, for example if you see someone, you can generally recognise them quite easily and also can picture what they look like in your head.
However, if you try to describe this person, typically you don't have the vocabulary to describe accurately enough the nuances of the face, and so your description isn't very good. By then attaching the less accurate verbiage to the memory, as I understand it you actually distort the mental image, as your brain merges the memory with the images conjured up by what you have described ("he had eyes a bit like Nicolas Cage but more of a David Coulthard jaw" etc.)
I wonder if because we don't tend to over analyse smells or consciously think about them too much, the recollection of them stays more 'pure' in the brain, hence is so much more recognisable even after a long time?
It doesn't just apply to memories. Seeing a fish and chip shop or a bacon sandwich or hearing someone mention them may make you a bit tempted to tuck in, but the temptation experienced when you smell them is on a different level.However, if you try to describe this person, typically you don't have the vocabulary to describe accurately enough the nuances of the face, and so your description isn't very good. By then attaching the less accurate verbiage to the memory, as I understand it you actually distort the mental image, as your brain merges the memory with the images conjured up by what you have described ("he had eyes a bit like Nicolas Cage but more of a David Coulthard jaw" etc.
)I wonder if because we don't tend to over analyse smells or consciously think about them too much, the recollection of them stays more 'pure' in the brain, hence is so much more recognisable even after a long time?
Mammals in general are smell rather than sight driven, we are a special case because we have such a poor sense of smell but the basic wiring is probably the same.
I've often wondered if this contributed to the evolution of human intelligence. In order for the smart humans to have an evolutionary advantage they have to think about situations. When you know about the opportunity or threat from smell it's much harder for rationality to kick in because the instinct is so much stronger.
Mind you I did suggest this to someone who had studied anthropology and she reckoned this was rubbish.
popeyewhite said:
Dr Jekyll said:
.
Mammals in general are smell rather than sight driven
I'd hazard when we used to hunt we saw our prey before we smelt it.Mammals in general are smell rather than sight driven
My understanding, is that smell is primarily a defensive sense and acute vision a hunting one?
Defense not just against predation, but also things like forest fires.
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