Boosting Your Sense of Smell May Give You Superpowers
By Chris Brown
Most everyone has dreamt of becoming magically blessed with superpowers. There is, however, a way to obtain superhuman abilities that don't require a radioactive spider. It uses a sense which you have likely been neglecting, the sense of smell. Smell isn't just about telling if your clothes need washing. The sense has been scientifically shown to be a much more powerful tool that, if accessed and grown, could grant some quite mystifying powers.
Sense Danger
Train your fifth sense to grow your sixth sense insight about people. A 2015 study, which used sweat from men in agitated and non-agitated states, found that volunteers performed less well on cognitive tests when sniffing the agitated sweat. Additionally, emotional smells have been studied in how they can spread emotion from one person to another. The contagious nature of fear could be explained in this way with an unconscious "fear scent." These studies seem to indicate that, with practice, one could tell the intention of an individual (and the level of danger they posed) simply by sniffing it out.
Manipulate Time
Smell can influence the speed at which time passes, or at least your perception of it. Dr. Alan Hirsch, a neuroscientist specializing in scent, found that certain smells changed time perception of individuals. For example, the scent of baby powder produced a longer perception of time, whereas a coffee scent reduced the participants' time perception. Shopping centers have been using this phenomenon against consumers for years by pumping out "dwell time" scents to keep them shopping longer. Influence your time by orchestrating the scents around you.
Create Super Memory
The integration between memory and scent is well-known. Scents can be remembered with 65 percent accuracy a year later, while visual memory is only 50 percent accurate after only a few months. By increasing your ability to smell, and remembering those smells, you are improving your top-memory sense and supercharging your memory as a result.
How to Make Your Sense of Smell Superhuman
Ready to become a super-sensing human? The good news is that super-smell can be obtained over time, with focused effort. According to one blog by a Los Angeles Ear-Nose-Throat specialist, anyone can improve their smell-sense by practicing the following:
- Pay attention to scents already in your environment
- Quiz yourself about scent recognition
- Associate smells with emotional feelings
- Exercise to temporarily boost smell and help you to maintain smelling strength long-term
- Consume enough zinc and B12 to maintain a healthy smell sense
With consistent work, you can be on your way to superhuman powers. Just make sure to use those sniffing powers for good. After all, with a great sense of smell comes great responsibility.
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