memes

For further evidence of this fact, it needs to be reiterated that components of perfume and cologne are some of the vilest shit you can imagine. Whale vomit, ass-juice of mammals, and so on.

This is because our whole idea of "smell" is a really odd social construct, and the things we think we smell aren't necessarily objective. A strong smell can mix with another smell and suddenly your brain forgets all social context around it. I could go on for hours how weird it is that we cover up so much of our natural smells when we spent the vast majority of our evolution using scent and body odor as a perfectly natural, normal tool for communicating with each other.

But social influence is stronger than evolution. Some people take this knowledge selectively and ignore in other places, but it's the heart of many of our broader social issues. This is why even though we spent the last million years or so piled in communal dens and caves, sweaty bodies in contact with each other night and day, we now gag when we pass someone who identifies as a Magic The Gathering player.