Sunday, April 17, 2016

Cut off your nose or spite your Facebook?
(Sense of smell is important)

I read with great interest about a qualitative study which indicates that given a hypothetical choice, a majority of today’s youth would prefer to give up their sense of smell rather than live without their social networks.
I’m curious as to how this poll was conducted because instead of giving an instant response to such a significant dilemma, this strikes me as the type of quandary, albeit theoretical, that one should mull over wisely a few days before giving a final answer.
Take, for instance, the importance of being able to smell a fire or gas leak before it builds into an explosive nature. And what about spoiled food, with our smart noses ready to save us from sickness and worse? If we went insensibly snout-less, wouldn’t most of us miss the simple pleasures and familiarity of distinctive aromas and perfumes emanating from friends and beloved ones?
Smell is the sense most closely intertwined with our memories. When we take a healthy walk through the mountainous woods on a vibrant snowy evening feeling powerfully connected to nature, it’s a nostalgic joy to breathe in somebody’s fireplace blazing in the misty distance, which reminds us sweetly of other golden days.
With this in mind, I wonder if more of today’s youth reflected on this, would they truly give up their good sense of smell and prefer to paint rosy Facebook pictures. Perhaps I’m a nosy Luddite, but I sense something sour when I see many of our youth believing social networks are the greatest thing invented since the fresh fragrance of warm sliced bread.


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