For millennia, the sense of smell has been widely undervalued — ranked far below vision by the likes of Immanuel Kant and Sigmund Freud. In 2021, a survey in the journal Brain Sciences found that people consistently ranked smell below vision and hearing — and even below commercial products. One quarter of college students surveyed said they’d prefer to give up their sense of smell than their smartphones.
But modern research suggests that smell, also known as olfaction, is less dispensable than we might think. In recent decades, we’ve gained a greater understanding of just how much humans rely on the sense of smell — for everything from social communication to the detection of environmental hazards. Researchers even believe that changes in patients’ sense of smell could eventually be used to diagnose neurodegenerative diseases.
As the science of smell continues to progress, it’s becoming increasingly clear how much we stand to gain by focusing on it.
I find it amusing that the article seems to imply that smell should be ranked evenly alongside sight and hearing. Like, yes, smell is obviously a valuable sense that I would hate to lose… But I’m still taking my eyes and ears over my nose if given the option.
Maybe because I already have hearing loss (speaking tones are not there) and have to lip read, I could do without hearing.
You obviously have no idea how hard it is to be without taste and smell.
So I read this and my 93yo uncle, who lost his sense of smell from a brain injury, was sitting right next to me. I just asked him what he thought of that statement and he laughed.
“Tell them it’s not even a contest. I can do anything I did before except taste dinner, and it wasn’t all that good back when I could. Don’t tell Bonny I said that.”
I’ve experienced loss of smell from covid, luckily it came back. It really sucks but I would rather be reduced to the tongue tastes than lose my hearing, both for utility and enjoyment.
Same. I love smelling, but against the other senses, smell is easily the least valuable.