Why do things that are good for us smell good (e.g. food) and what is bad for us smell bad (e.g. excrement)?

Question

What we require to survive and flourish as humans invariably has an attractive and enticing aroma, and stuff that is bad for us almost always repels us either visually or olfactorily. Is that proof of a higher creative intelligence or is it evidence of the truth of natural selection?

Answer 1

While humans have certainly learned to adapt over thousands of years, that doesn't explain many of the highly complex processes that go on in the human body, olfactory being only 1 of hundreds.

God put those instincts in us but He also gave us things like common sense and intelligence so we could figure out and adpat to a lot of things on our own.

I am all for adaptation.....not evolution. The fossil record doesn't support it and we have never in the history of man seen one species change into another - or at the very least, we've never seen a species in the process of changing.

Answer 2

I had prepared a longer answer for you but the screen wiped it off . Basically all smells run through a scale of carbon compounds say 1-10 as alkaline acid . At the lower end of the scale they are simple and do not smell so intersting as they reach the median they are becoming more compleax and more interstinf as they reach the end of the scale they become unpleasant. All perumes etc have a body note , these are complexes of body odors ,Semen , Urine .Excrement, sweat. n e can tell someones sexual predeliction by the fragarance they like Farenhiet - sweatty feet. No fragarances do enrich our lives ,food, wine , perume ,but hey rarely lift one into the spiritual , accept Perhaps , The book Mon Rebours - against nature Its probably more to do with pheromones , immunity survival but enjoy any way Incedntally Choclate has some notes that smell of excremnent and sweat

Answer 3

You're looking at it the wrong way round. Good stuff smells good to us, and bad stuff smells bad. This is because of evolution - those of our ancestors who were attracted to the smells of rotten food soon got ill, so didn't survive to pass on their genes as much. Meanwhile the ones who were repelled by rotten food and sewage lived healthier lives, so survived to reproduce more, and we inherited their genes - and their predilections for healthy things.

This also explains our propensity to eat too much sugary and fatty foods - we evolved in an environment when these things were rare, but gave us valuable nutrients, so we developed the propensity for gorging on them when we could. Now they're easily available, but we still crave them and don't know when to stop.

Answer 4

Your statement is not accurate. We need to apply our intelligence not just our noses.

Many medicines smell very bad but are definitely good for us. And the opposite is true also - things that smell good may not be good for us - like too much candy.

Answer 5

I would disagree. There are people who just love the smell of oil (petrol). Is that good for them? Not sure. I personally can't stand the smell of some very "good for you" food. It depends... We are all so different. What is good for some of us, for others - killing (like nuts, for instance). I don't think smoking is good for you, and for many - only the smell of it is bliss...

Answer 6

Not necessarily. I have a friend from Korea who lives in Europe and has continual complaints from her neighbour(s) about cooking smells. Korean cuisine is known to be very healthy. It's all about what you know and are familiar with.

Answer 7

I am almost positive this is evidence of natural selection. If you looked at poop and said, "damn, that smells bad,so I won't eat it" saved themselves sickness and maybe death, had offspring with the same smelling ability, and proliferated.

Answer 8

It is natural instinct. If something smells bad, it is probably bad for us that might kill us or make us quite sick, so it serves as a warning before you eat something. If something smells good, it might be safe to eat.

Answer 9

Natural selection, of course. Individuals who liked things that were bad for them tended to die out, leaving our ancestors to live on.

Think of it like this: there were people who didn't like sex - but they tended not to have babies.

Answer 10

I dont think that is quite true is it? there are many foods that dont smell too good, like mature cheese, and cabbage.