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Cause and effect here, cause and effect

People who hate the smell of sweaty feet could be more xenophobic
Karolinska Institute finds people with a sensitive nose for disgusting smells are more likely to have negative attitudes towards migrants

No, not just that immigrants smell. The definition of ingroup and outgroup works on many levels, smell being one of them. Diet, microbiome etc, all contribute. Outgroup members will – often enough – actually smell different on a basic if not conscious level.

Yes, this is before we talk about curry and all that nonsense. By which standards, of course, Northerners would reek – which, of course, those from north of the Marylebone Road do, but it’s because they use their bathtubs as God intended, not for washing but coal storage.

10 thoughts on “Cause and effect here, cause and effect”

  1. I’d be interested in a study of whether fathers of daughters are more anti migrant than fathers of sons. I suspect they might be.

  2. It’s the disgust response. The trait evolves, rising and falling with environmental conditions. When the Black Death stalked Europe, people with a high disgust response had a higher chance of survival. When the New World was discovered, those with a low disgust response were better positioned to trade with smelly foreigners. Spanish flu favoured high disgust. Antibiotics favoured low disgust. And so on.

    Given that it’s harder to see dirt on dark skin, people with a high disgust response will be more wary of them.

  3. Disgust is a survival trait. We naturally want to avoid the disgusting, because it’s associated with corruption and death.

    That’s why the Eloi are determined to pathologise your natural instincts.

  4. The Japanese found Westerners smelly – they gave off an odour the Japs didn’t have, due to the Round-eyes’ dairy diet which Japs didn’t have. The same way babies smell of milk.

  5. In my early life I discovered that German women smelt of urine. No surprise there: it was the late 1940s – early 1950s, and they couldn’t get soap. Not that most people in those days didn’t smell – with underwear changed typically once a week (allegedly) – but so many folk were smokers that they probably couldn’t tell! (As I child, I wasn’t smoking). Much to my amazement, even though they can now buy soap, I discovered on a recent visit to the home of the Master Race that their women still smell of piss. I wonder what it is? A diet heavy in pork or sauerkraut?

  6. Digger man, the Jerries like their cabbage etc. One of their main delicacies is a white Spargel. They have a special Spargel feast in early spring whaen you can eat Spargel dishes for breakfast, lunch, and diner for a whole bloody week.If you eat a lot of asparagus your wee gets a very distinctive smell, even with the green asparagus that we prefer in UK.

    Are confusing the ordinary smell of urine with the specific notes of asparagus?

  7. @interested studies have shown that having a daughter makes fathers generally more
    conservative so the answer to your question is most likely yes

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