olfaction and emotion

Mar 29, 2006 14:29

There's a smell in the air that reminds me of New Student Week. Have you ever felt that way before - smelled something and it immediately reminded you of some place/person/event? I remember learning in neuro that it was because the area where your olfactory sense is processed is very close to where memories are formed, meaning that there are often strong connections between the two.

That's interesting isn't it. Especially considering how few words there are (in English, at least) to describe smells. I mean, really, think about it. Besides food smells, you usually say that something smells "bad" or "good" (or perhaps if your vernacular is more refined you use words like "acrid" and "aromatic" but I don't really do that in normal conversations). Its hard to describe exactly how it smells after its rained. Grassy? Or when you walk into your super-heated dorm room. Stuffy? And I can't really describe what exactly this smell is and why I associate it with New Student Week.

But it makes me happy, because I enjoyed New Student Week.

My biopsych book begins by talking about consciousness in the first chapter. What an interesting topic. I read about solipsism - the idea that only I alone exist and am conscious...interesting...don't believe that, but very interesting. And then the whole idea of the mind controlling the brain or the brain controlling the mind. Undoubtedly, judging by the way we speak, we all are initially brought up with the mind controlling the brain perspective. That only changes when you take a bio/neuro/psych class, if it ever changes at all. I don't know what I think. Or what my brain tells me I think. See! When I refer to myself as "I", I'm talking about my mind, not my brain.

Honestly though, as much as biopsych can often reduce actions and emotions to neurotransmitters and chemical reactions, it can't explain everything. They try to explain complex emotions, like love, but I don't think they even come close to what love is. Love, in many instances, is not evolutionary helpful or whatever - often it can even hurt you. I mean, makes sense from the biological standpoint why you would choose to save your child's life over your own or something, but why would you ever put your best friend or boyfriend/girlfriend/spouse/whatever ahead of yourself? Or would you? I suppose we all love ourselves, too, to some extent. But there will always be a few people close to you that you would do just about anything for. Why? Hmm. So illogical, but yet it makes perfect sense.

Mmmm. Or maybe it just makes sense to me in my incoherent and illogical reasoning of the world. But honestly, if everyone was logical and normal then life would be boring...a lot simpler, a lot less pain, but definitely boring. So I'll take this crazy world I live in any day over some parallel "normal" bubble that other people walking along side of me on the sidewalks belong to.
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