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The theories I know there are centered on different compositions of skin bacteria. Sweat is decomposed over time by certain bacteria, producing a characteristic

by corty 6y ago

The theories I know there are centered on different compositions of skin bacteria. Sweat is decomposed over time by certain bacteria, producing a characteristic "old sweat" smell. People you interact with can transfer some of their skin bacteria to you, equalizing smell within a social group. Environmental factors such as use of soap, clothes, UV radiation on the skin and nutrition also influence which bacteria are able to live on your skin. So it sounds entirely plausible that there are populations of humans that do not smell, even without washing. But I agree that this is far from settled from what I've read.

medstrom 6y ago
I expect that if someone stumbles on a true "fix" for body odor, it'll involve inoculation of better microbes, from live soil maybe (many animals love to roll in dirt for some reason), and then avoiding killing those microbes. Also finding a diet that creates less odor for you. Maybe always rinsing off sweat as soon as it shows up. And so on. But not that you simply stop washing and keep living as normal.
- thaumasiotes 6y ago
  > But not that you simply stop washing and keep living as normal. Eh, it's worked in the past. Japanese encountering Europeans for the first time recorded their complaints about the Europeans' odor. This was presumably not an issue for the Europeans among themselves. If everyone stopped washing, there wouldn't be an odor problem. There would be odors, but they wouldn't be a problem. Why is that worse than the "washing" mode?
  - taurath 6y ago
    Because you’d rather people not in your social group not smell foul to you. The “con guy” stereotype is real and it’s quite unpleasant.
  - medstrom 6y ago
    Isn't it odd that Europeans didn't complain about Japanese odor?
    - thaumasiotes 6y ago
      No, why would it be? We're stipulating that the Europeans had an odor the Japanese didn't. But how was that a problem for the Europeans?
      - medstrom 6y ago
        I mean, it sounds like the Japanese objectively did not smell bad. You also hear about the Latin Americans complain about the stench of Columbus and his crew. Was it just the stench of sailors, or did these cultures know a fix?

by corty 6y ago

medstrom 6y ago

I expect that if someone stumbles on a true "fix" for body odor, it'll involve inoculation of better microbes, from live soil maybe (many animals love to roll in dirt for some reason), and then avoiding killing those microbes. Also finding a diet that creates less odor for you. Maybe always rinsing off sweat as soon as it shows up. And so on. But not that you simply stop washing and keep living as normal.

thaumasiotes 6y ago
> But not that you simply stop washing and keep living as normal. Eh, it's worked in the past. Japanese encountering Europeans for the first time recorded their complaints about the Europeans' odor. This was presumably not an issue for the Europeans among themselves. If everyone stopped washing, there wouldn't be an odor problem. There would be odors, but they wouldn't be a problem. Why is that worse than the "washing" mode?
- taurath 6y ago
  Because you’d rather people not in your social group not smell foul to you. The “con guy” stereotype is real and it’s quite unpleasant.
- medstrom 6y ago
  Isn't it odd that Europeans didn't complain about Japanese odor?
  - thaumasiotes 6y ago
    No, why would it be? We're stipulating that the Europeans had an odor the Japanese didn't. But how was that a problem for the Europeans?
    - medstrom 6y ago
      I mean, it sounds like the Japanese objectively did not smell bad. You also hear about the Latin Americans complain about the stench of Columbus and his crew. Was it just the stench of sailors, or did these cultures know a fix?