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.
