I am congenital for anosmia (that is, I have never had a sense of smell) so I always find discussions about anosmia interesting. As a contribution: the experie

I am congenital for anosmia (that is, I have never had a sense of smell) so I always find discussions about anosmia interesting. As a contribution: the experiences of never having smelt is very different from the experience of loosing it later in life. The former is something that dawns on the person sometime in their youth when they realise they really can't smell farts. The other is a crushing loss of joy from their lives when they lose the wonderful taste of food, fresh flowers, and "new car smell" (whatever that is!). I never lost these things, I love food, and I like looking at pretty flowers. I am jealous that I don't experience smelling, but I do not miss it because I never had it in the first place. As a side note, living with anosmia is mildly inconvienient for most. I am paranoid about food going off, and working with flammable gasses is always a little unnerving. Apparently the rates of depression, dysfunctional relationships, and early death are somewhat higher in my cohort. I personally have little trouble with it, and find my condition a useful conversation starter at social events.