h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I think that sums it up rather well.

A smell is bad if people smelling it move away from you, or have some other negative reaction.

on the other point, my intent was not to hijack the thread, only to point out that being overly critical often has the oposite effect from what was intended.

I thought it was clear from the post, but obviously not.

personally, I find people who are overly (or unjustly) critical to be at least as objectionable as people who smell.

in my case, the spelling problem is caused by dysgraphia, but most of these spelling disorders (including dyslexia, dyspraxia, and a number of others) are due to one part of the neurological pathway used in speech not working properly. it is definately non-trivial to solve.

The perfume problem I can definately empathise with, as I suffer from it as well.

Reading and interpetaion problems can follow some spelling problems.
As long as it can be read ,some credit might be given to the effort it takes for some. It would be a shame for people to keep their ideas and opinions locked up because they do not spell well.

*habitually strays from the main topic given the slightest opportunity while unknowingly mispelling words*

I think the reason why we don't like the smell of people who don't wash is that they're more likely to be carrying infectious diseases.

(sighs . . .)

Acid, Bouncy and I have been rather light-heartedly teasing each other about the spelling thing off and on for the past few pages.

Meanwhile, I do not appreciate being rudely told to butt out by someone who either didn't bother to read the backlog or if so, obviously did not get the humour intended.


Acid,

I did NOT say I smell! I *said* that I sometimes get self-conscious about people standing really close to me while talking after I've eaten garlic.

azahar
(orange blossom! mmmmm )

I know the spelling thing was a bit of a laugh, I said as much in my last post.

Looking at the posts immediately preceding it made me think that a discussion on spelling might get out of hand and people could start to get caught up on this and turn agressive.

So I tried to put a stop to it before anything happened. It seems that I failed.

And before you accuse people of not bothering to read the backlog read it yourself! Who started this thread and has posted on almost every page, if not every page of it?

Chill pills! Get 'em while they're hot!

Fair Warning: Do not point out that there are two 'g's in aggressive.

Hi Bouncy. Okay, I've taken a minute to calm down. I do not need to post the inflamitory A4 page I've typed in word I can delete it...

I just got a bit wound up because I felt I was being accused of being lazy (Post 149) and rude (Post 164). (Not that I care about being rude, it just being another SC) Also that for every post I made after post 110 there was one criticism of my spelling after post 110. I took it personally when I shouldn't have and will, as you suggest, take a chill pill. (Are they still hot? )

Now back to the point: “For me it is not the 'social distance' between us that makes this a bit uncomfortable - only the fact that he hasn't showered for days and reeks to high heaven!” was the line I was responding to when I started talking about smell. I was just wondering what composition of instinct and training made people decide what good and bad smells are. The point about disease is a good one. Also theres a lot of evolutionary psych research which suggests we are evolved to attempt to move away from overcrowed areas (General Adaption Syndrome and so forth) It would make sense that smell would make us want to leave the area because it suggests that this area is too densly populated.

Question is that would suggest that the smell of an ill person would be greater than that of a well person? Sounds like a lovely peice of research to make people participate in next year.

hi Acid,

Phew! Okay, first of all, I wasn't 'calling you lazy', I was being playful and teasing you a bit - honest! I thought you were taking my postings in that manner, which was how I meant them.

And I didn't call you rude. I wasn't calling anybody rude. I was saying that whoever it was who told me to butt out (it wasn't you) did this rudely. Just because someone says one rude thing doesn't make them a rude person.

Sheesh, am going to have to start plastering my postings with , etc. I think. Unfortunately for me it seems that very dry, ironic, and often quite silly humour is sometimes misinterpreted in print.

Apologies for any bad or hurt feelings caused - none of that had been my intention.

az

and now back to our scheduled programme . . .

Once again demonstrating the difficulty of textual communication.

It is possible to smell some kinds of diseases I find. It is also possible to smell calpol, which does drive me away.

What is calpol?

I think that people either very very old or quite ill do give off a rather unpleasant smell.

Even when I recently took one of my cats to the vets recently the woman actually smelled all around his head and especially in his mouth to try and detect the source of the problem. I found this quite fascinating. Most vets just want to start doing all sorts of very expensive high-tech testing.

I have a street friend who I often have breakfast with and - truly - the guy reeks to high heaven. But I find that after a few minutes I get used to it.

It is also said that we cannot smell ourselves. At least not in the same way that others can smell us. This is what makes me nervous after having eaten lots of garlic.

az

I'm not sure exactly. All I remember is I had to have it when I had chicken pox and it smelt horrible, and its the only thing that smells like it does. And its cold and runny. I think it might have been pink too.

Ok, since that was a rubbish answer, I've just looked it up on the Almighty Google. Calpol is apparantly a company that makes medicines for children from 2 months to 12 years.

So what I'm actually referring to I don't know.

Never mind, it reeks and its horrible and it always makes me think of disease. That's all.

Bouncy,

That's not a rubbish answer at all. I think certain diseases have their own particular smell attached to them. And certainly certain medications create a body smell. Which was *why* I was so impressed that instead of taking expensive x-rays and blood tests, my vet decided to smell my cat in order to find out if there was any typical cat disease happening.

I used to have a fabulous GP back in Canada who was also not above 'sniffing' to see if one had a certain aroma usually associated with a certain illness. He also used his hands very knowingly to 'feel' illnesses. And he wasn't in the slightest way a doctor who believed in 'alternative treatments'. Yet his own treatments were very holistic. Somehow.

az

Maybe you just smell/feel nice...

Interesting combination of cynicism and optimism there.

Works with a lot of things though. If you have a lot of experience with something its possible to pick up on small cues like that, and to cross-apply that knowledge. (I'm sure there's an actual word that works far better than that particular clumsy phrase, but never mind).

I think both vet and GP were totally 'cross-applying' their knowledge - they certainly were not *only* relying on sense of smell to diagnose a possible illness. But I do think the smell bit is quite valid.

az

Oopsie. Didn't mean to get so agitated (then again who does) I was taking it as good natured tesing and out of nowhere got all agitated. Dunno whats up with me recently. Haven't been able to deal with people normally in RL either for the last few days. I threatened someone off trying to wake me up early when they had no real reason to do so. Mayhap anyone studying psychology is driven slowly but surely insane as part of the course.

More likely I need >1 meal/day and >4 hrs sleep/night I've been operating on that for the past five days.

Ironically it seems the guy you accused of not reading the backlog must have been 'Xyroth (Getting swamped in backlog)'

I like the smell of calpol. I couldn't say why though. Odd that different people like different things, I can't stand petrol though I know someone who loves the smell. I don't know about sick people but I do find there is a distinct 'hospital smell' that bugs me. Thing is i'm sure its a result of the area being more cleanly (derived from cleanliness and I don't care if its not a real word) rather than less.

I'd love to see an expert system* come out with that. How would you feel if a computer came out with "smell the patient - please describe the sensation"

* -> A system which acts as an expert, for example a doctor, requesting the results of various tests and producing a diagnosis. Yup one day your life may well depend on code written by someone like me...

az
(just in case!)

Not reading the backlog, I would just like to comment on the subject line...

"Good" is of itself a social construct in this context, so the whole question is self-referential...

actually, I did re-read the entire thread before I posted to get the feel for how the spelling things was going.

in that context, it is possible to take it in the way it was intended, but is by no means obvious that it should be taken that way.

as to smell, lots of things show up in smell, from food chemicals (curry, alcohol, garlic, etc) through to certain types of illness.

hi there xyroth,

I sometimes forget I am posting on a totally public forum and not just chatting to the person I am chatting to here. I can see where you may have taken things I said the wrong way - but those silly bits were meant for Acid and Bouncy. Again, apologies if I upset you in any way. It was not intended.

Will make massive effort to be clearer - and not so silly or ironic - in future. (can she do this??? )

As for many body smells - we are what we eat. I remember once when I was 16 and had a job as a cashier in a hardware store in the Ukranian section of town. Sometimes the customers almost made me drop dead with the incredible smell of 'second hand garlic' coming out of their pores. It was amazing. Also I once saw a very old man buying lots and lots of dog food at the supermarket - and man, did he reek! I then realized that, aside from the fact that he probably didn't shower or change his clothes very often, he actually smelled of dog food. The smell was coming out of his pores. The poor guy was obviously living on the stuff as it was cheaper than buying human food. Another instance, on a flight from Toronto to London, I found myself on a plane full of Indians (from India). And the entire plane reeked of curry spices! Even though nobody was eating curry at the time.

This makes me wonder how I smell to other people. Since we do not seem able to smell ourselves objectively.

Apparently (according to studies) when we are in love, the love object smells like a field of flowers (or whatever pleasant smell we associate pleasantness with). And during passionate sex we 'turn off' our sense of smell in order to focus on other more immediate matters.

Interesting . . .

az