Product
Philosophy |
|
 |
|
It is really
a matter of self-defense. We are continually surrounded by smells and,
if we gave due attention to every one that came our way in the course
of the day, we would find ourselves overwhelmed by the amount of sensory
information we would need to process. So, we get into the habit of not
concentrating and it is only when someone specifically brings it to
our attention (Do you smell something burning?) that we focus on our
sense of smell. Consequently, we end up forgetting what things smell
like and, when we come across a smell that is detached from its traditional
source, we may find that it is almost impossible to identify. For many
people, the smell of an apple may be familiar and frustratingly unrecognizable,
unless they see the apple and can anchor the smell to a visual reference.
This conundrum also occurs when we are presented with a glass of wine.
When we raise the glass to our nose, we know that there is a smell;
but what is it? The only visual clue we have is a red or white liquid,
which is not at all suggestive of what we are trying to identify. Unfortunately,
we cannot simply say, "It smells like wine," and be done with
it. There is something there that we have smelled before and, until
we can identify it, it is like an itch that cannot be scratched. |
|