Around the world, people like (and dislike) the same scents
Unlike visual preferences, the appreciation of smells crosses cultures
TO THE SWEDES, there are few odours more delectable than the scent of surströmming, a type of fermented herring. To most non-Swedes there are probably few odours more repulsive—the fish has been described variously as smelling like rancid cat litter, vaguely faecal or even corpse-like. In determining which scents people find pleasant and which they do not, surströmming suggests culture must play a sizeable part.
This article appeared in the Science & technology section of the print edition under the headline “A rose by any other name”
Science & technology April 9th 2022
From the April 9th 2022 edition
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