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Maybe this is something that's only smellable by a certain subset of the human population. I invited a family member to try Chipotle once. She complained of a
by csense 13y ago
Maybe this is something that's only smellable by a certain subset of the human population.
I invited a family member to try Chipotle once. She complained of a soapy taste in the food. We both thought maybe a staff member had been careless about rinsing hands after washing with soap.
I later learned that some people have a genetic predisposition to perceive cilantro, an herb common in Mexican food, as a soapy taste [1] [2].
Maybe in the case of these laptops, nobody who was involved in production / QA had the right gene to be bothered by the smell. But once it's sold to thousands of people, that's both a much larger population, and one that's from all over the world (as opposed to the people in the factory who would would probably mostly be local workers from one country or region).
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cilantro#Leaves http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cilantro#Leaves
[2] http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/14/dining/14curious.html?_r=0 http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/14/dining/14curious.html?_r=0
- jval 13y agoYeah, I have this too. I went 22 years thinking that people were dropping soap in my meals. I would think 'Damn, do people just accidentally grab the soap bottle instead of the sauce?'. Couldn't figure out how else such a strong taste of soap could be in my mouth. But yeah, turns out it was cilantro.
- gcb1 13y agomost people were i came from associate italian lime to cleaning products, but i think it is mostly because it was so heavily used in such. i love the taste but i cant drink anything with it. it is impossible after I've smelled it.
- xorgar831 13y agoRose water for a long time smelled like a cleaning product to me, Turkish Delight and Rose Lassi I thought had chemicals in them as a result. ;-)
- colanderman 13y agoAlong the same lines, toasted sesame oil smells like acetone to both me and my wife.
- slunk 13y agoInteresting theory, but read this quote from the first page of comments: "Thanks.. I am having the same issue. When I started using the laptop at the end of last week I thought I smelt something odd. Well.. here I am Sunday doing some work on the couch and my wife says "what stinks like cat pee". I said.. I think its this laptop.. puts her nose up to the keyboard and BAM! It really stinks." Some guy AND his wife noticed the smell. If you're right, that's one hell of a coincidence.
- SolarNet 13y agoNot if they are both of the same genetic pool. For example if they are both Dutch or Korean etc. Especially if the 'not smelling' it gene is the less common one (and on ethnic boundaries). For example all of the workers were Chinese and Chinese don't have the gene.
- hrjet 13y agoThis is very much true in my own experience. I have an incredibly sensitive nose especially to alarming things. I once woke up from my sleep due to a LPG gas leak in a different floor, and alerted them of the leak! People who were awake hadn't noticed the smell; but once alerted they could easily smell it. Also, once when I was working on a new Dell laptop, it started giving out an acrid smell when running CPU-intensive apps. Most people couldn't believe that, but one another guy in my office floor could detect that smell as well. I think there is a larger hypothesis that can be made: it is optimal for the survival of a species if individuals of the species exhibit slightly different behavior from each other. As a group, it helps cover more ground in the event of a threat or opportunity. It is also a way to jump out of a local optimum. Is there any established terminology for what I am describing above?
- jdale27 13y agoIt depends on where the "different behavior" originates from, but in the case of traits like olfactory acuity that probably have a large genetic component, it's related to the general idea of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetic_diversity http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetic_diversity. I am also reminded of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fisher%27s_fundamental_theorem_of_natural_selection http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fisher%27s_fundamental_theorem_....
- snikeris 13y agoSure, it might be optimal for the species; however, individuals are not going to adapt "for the good of the species" [1]. If your gas smelling genes have no disadvantages and they help you survive in situations where you might not otherwise, they might as well just spread to everyone and the "slightly different behavior" gets exhibited everywhere. In other words, it doesn't really matter if something is optimal for the survival of the species since no one is optimizing at that level. As an aside, our capability for rationality means we have the ability to optimize for the survival of our species, but it doesn't seem like we do so. [1] http://evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/misconceptions_faq.php#b4 http://evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/misconceptions_faq.... Edit: I don't know how to quote so I removed it.
- 13y ago
- Wingman4l7 13y agoThere's also the genetic predisposition to perceive brussels sprouts (and other foods) as too bitter: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supertaster https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supertaster IIRC this is one of the SNPs that personal-DNA-sequencing companies like 23andMe can test for.
- xradionut 13y agoAh, brussel sprouts. Alton Brown had a whole episode of "Good Eats" within he explain the phenomena. I was never able to eat them, turns out most people over-cook them releasing the bitterness that I find horrid. To solution is to wash them, split them and roast them in the oven with carrots chunks and potato wedges after seasoning with garlic, salt, pepper. When the carrots are done, remove everything and serve in bowls. Great cold day treat.
- Udo 13y agoThis is an unfortunately chosen term for an ill defined group of people. The ability or inability to taste certain specific compounds is a genetic variation of chemical receptors and should be traceable through the family line. The term Supertaster on the other hand seems to be chosen as a catch-all to maximize the number of people who identify with it.
- evincarofautumn 13y agoHuh. I wasn’t aware that most supertasters dislike the strong foods. All of the things mentioned in the article taste extremely strong or bitter to me, but I find it pleasant in a way and regularly take them. Cilantro and cabbage are a bit much on their own, but they’re fine as part of a dish.
- astrodust 13y agoThere's a simple test you can do with a strip of paper (http://supertaster.com/ http://supertaster.com/) tainted with that particular flavor. Most people can't taste it at all, but those that do are gagging from the awful taste. I'm in that group and brussels sprouts are easily the strongest, most offensive vegetables out there.
- tempestn 13y agoReminds me of cumin. I always thought it smelled like really bad BO, and my wife thought I was crazy. This made me check, and it turns out lots of people agree!
- epynonymous 13y agoyou're onto something, maybe there's an emerging market for end user product QA via different genetic predisposition, people would get hired for their natural talents.
- mzl 13y agoAnother one of these quirks is ground white pepper, which for some people (myself included) quite often smells strongly of fecal matter. The reason seems to be extra sensitivity to a compound aplty named Skatole. Naturally, this is quite an off-putting smell to have in food.
- bluedino 13y ago>> I invited a family member to try Chipotle once. She complained of a soapy taste in the food. I pick up a soapy taste in almost all mass-produced tortillas. Taco Bell, Qdoba, the packages of tortillas at Walmart. Good thing I don't mind picking up freshly made ones at the local bakery, they're better in every way.
- talmir 13y agoI get something similar from cucumbers. Even if there is just a hint of the juice that comes of cucumbers in my food I will taste it. It tastes like rotting cabbage mixed with dirt (if that makes sense) to me.