The human sense of smell has been regarded as providing the longest lasting memory among all of our senses. The simple waft of fresh prepared foods, or the passing scent of someone who walked by us at the park, all ring loud within our childhood memory banks to remind us what is pleasing and what is not. This same sense provides warning for danger and awareness of sickly contagions, infectious illness, and diseased beings,(this is why I imagine zombies smell just awful).
In the beginning, our attraction most likely was found when the scent of health and strength caught our snouts. Certain chemical pheromones reached out and dazzled our desires, making for healthy and strong mating, thus healthy and strong offspring.
I agree with SOH however, in that the aromas found in nature surely provided many with unexpected romantic interludes simply because the scent of resins and flowers that happen to linger upon skin smelled divine! To this day, those same natural aromas trigger our human romantic instincts, even as chemist have created them from artificial compounds.
I wonder just how responsive our genetic memory would be to truly authentic natural aromas? Would be interesting to find out...
Cheers~
k9
