4 ms·

We should trust our noses a lot more. If it smells awful it's probably polluting!

• hinkley 6y ago
  Paraphrasing a home brewer on the topic of how/why we've had alcohol for so long: We carry a chemical testing laboratory around with us everywhere - our noses - and it can detect all the ways beer can go wrong and become harmful. We made it, we could tell by smell if it was going to kill us, so we kept making it. Sometime later horrible odors became a hallmark of Progress, and has been paying dividends ever since.
• ehnto 6y ago
  I used to live rurally but then moved to the city. It is always shocking noticing all the pollutant smells when I return to the city from a stint in the fresh air of the countryside. It's surprising how quickly your body adapts and begins to ignore the pollution. I know it is around me now but I can't smell it.
• saagarjha 6y ago
  Of course, this isn't always accurate, since sometimes things that smell good are not great either: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benzene https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benzene. But it's often a good first guess.
  • danschumann 6y ago
    Yea I've heard people say they like the smell of gas but I don't. It has a too sharp or burny scent.