What makes us not like certain smells and like others, and what distinguishes a bad smell?

Question

Has it ever been researched? Are there certain qualities or characteristics that every bad smell has and vice versa for good smells?

So excuse me for being so blunt but what makes us detest the smell of say a fart and if we were raised from childhood to think that that smell was great would we actually like it? LOL serious though.

Answer 1

The small receptors are almost hotwired strait to your memory without having to go thru the frontal lobe. What this all means is that smells bring up memories without us having to think about it. With that said it is the individuals life experience (memories) that well determine the "quality" of the smell weather it is concerned bad or good is subjective to the observes past experience with the smell. So even if you were to say roses were the greatest smelling thing in the world if I had experience with the smell of roses that brought up bad feels and resentment (most likely because it is linked to past bad experiences) I would tell you different. Its just like taste and is accully were most of the sensation of taste comes from, that we all have are own "tastes". Hence different strokes for different folks. Althought some smells are found unversailly to be considered bad or good they can be traced back to natural reasons. Even that thou can become perversed by individuals life experiences and choices. Another thing to keep in mind is that the intensity associated with a givin smell can be influced by biological needs such as hunger or even lust.

Answer 2

That sense has been refined over the eons through the continual evolution of the ability to quickly react to harmful stimuli.

So, we are born with a vast repertoire of smell sensing abilities and then develop our own super set as we mature and react to the stimuli which we encounter.