Why can really bad odors induce vomit?
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This question also yields what I would consider to be a more important question:
***Why do some things smell awful?*** Evaluating the pleasure of sights and sounds is highly subjective, as it is with many smells. There are some smells, however, like some sounds and sights that everyone (well, nearly everyone) reacts negatively to.
It isn’t just that we vomit because something smells bad, it’s that we vomit ***AND*** it smells bad. Our body is producing two physiological responses to this stimulus. One may preclude and even trigger the other, but ultimately our most basic brain functions have evolved over time to avoid risk, and those that can ‘smell danger’ live to procreate.
In turn, this has given some other flora and fauna biological advantage in that through happenstance, a creature that produces an odor repulsive to another will not fall prey to that creature. Durian, for example, is highly successful at warding off creatures that would consume its fruit. Skunks have taken advantage of this mechanism as well. Two things that aren’t even remotely deadly to Humans but have successfully co-opted the danger mechanisms of many mammals in order to thrive by mimicking other dangerous events.
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