4 Answers

  1. Individual preferences are formed under the influence of a whole complex of factors that interact with each other and continue to influence our preferences throughout life. It is impossible to describe all the intricacies in one short summary, but I will try to give the main patterns in my answer.

    Our taste and smell preferences are based on genetic factors and previous experience. Dislike for the smell of coriander, for example, is caused by variations in the sequences of three genes associated with the perception of bitter taste, pungent odors and the transmission of taste stimuli. Variations in taste receptor gene sequences are also known to explain differences in the perception of the intensity of bitter and sweet tastes. Hate the smell of men's sweat and когда when your partner roasts fat pork and he/she doesn't smell it? Most likely, you have different variants of the�OR7D4 olfactory receptor, which is responsible for the ability to smell androstenone. In addition to genetic variations in the gene sequences of olfactory and taste receptors, sensitivity, and hence the perception of odors and tastes, depend on the number of specific olfactory and taste receptors located on the tongue and in the olfactory wall of the nasal cavity. The number of receptors can change with age, and just from day to day under the influence of external factors.

    Rejection of bitter, love of sweet and salty things are inherent in us from birth. These taste preferences are an ancient evolutionary mechanism that allows you to avoid toxins that are mostly bitter, choose energy-efficient foods with a high content of simple carbohydrates, and take care of water-salt metabolism. More complex taste and smell preferences are based on our sensory experience and associative learning. For example, babies prefer smells associated with their mother. With age, more and more smells appear in our horizons, which are associated with pleasant and unpleasant situations, people, and they acquire the appropriate color. As for food, the simplest example of associative learning is food poisoning. If you are properly poisoned, then for a long time you will avoid the products with which you associate this nauseating state. And, on the contrary, products that cause satiety and fun without consequences will appeal to you more and more. A very significant part of our taste preferences is formed in childhood (I wrote about this здесь:�https://thequestion.ru/questions/3587/kak-formiruyutsya-gastronomicheskie-pristrastiya-u-lyudei).

  2. Most odors in nature are basically neutral, but, of course, they carry certain information. There are odors that we learn to avoid socioculturally, and they are related to sanitation and hygiene. I note that in nature, animals do not avoid, for example, the smell of feces, small children do too (yes, yes, we enjoyed playing with our poop in a year if our parents were not quick enough!). But parents consistently form “correct” patterns of perception of such smells. In most cases, our attitude to smells is associated with imprinting, that is, imprinting our state at the moment of the first encounter with it, or conditioned reflexes. We pay little attention to smells, although they play a fairly large role in our lives. Therefore, we do not notice, do not record the situations of forming our attitude to them. For example, a woman who has been abused when a man smelled like Hugo the boss may later in life experience an unconscious fear when she smells that smell. Or we've had romantic dates in an Italian restaurant, and in the future we'll be attracted to her smells, although we didn't pay much attention to them before.

    With a slightly different taste. In addition to the same mechanisms, physiology is also added here. We are slightly different, including genetically, for example, most people can drink beer with pleasure, but 10% have a mutation that makes the taste of beer unbearably bitter. Another example – often women like chocolate, because it contains substances for the synthesis of serotonin.

    Well, something like that.

  3. It seems to me that this is a protective function of the body, so that a person does not harm himself by eating rotten food or, sorry, feces. Or if it smells like some kind of gas, then the person will avoid this smell and thereby save their body.

  4. The division into pleasant/unpleasant is somewhat conditional. It happens that a person may like something that causes negative emotions in others. Some people like the smell of gasoline, some don't, for example. If you look at it objectively from the smell of freshly brewed coffee and rolls, for example, and the smell from the garbage, then in the latter case, the objects lying there begin to decompose and rot and at the same time contain toxins and poisons that are dangerous for the body. When in contact with oxygen, a characteristic smell appears (I will not go into chemical reactions). Given that the product is already dangerous, there is no better way for the body to understand that it is dangerous without harm to itself and direct contact, except by sniffing. And coffee with a bun is quite edible and does not pose a danger for the time being, so it does not cause such negative reactions.

Leave a Reply

Categories