Some substances have a strong, unpleasant smell such as those in feces or dead animals, what are these substances that make them smell foul to our sense of smell? And why does our sense of smell process it as a foul smell?
In: 4
A lot of time it’s sulfur compounds. As for why our sense of smell processes it as a foul smell? You said it yourself, feces or dead animals — two things which you are definitely *not* supposed to eat.
Those who found such things to smell pleasant tended to not out-compete those whose sense of smell said “stay away” so the genes that make us interpret it as a bad smell tended to spread.
Not everything that smells bad is toxic and not everything that’s toxic smells bad, but most things that smell really bad are things you don’t want to be in contact with.
Latest Answers