The Sense of Smell / The Nose

The nose is the most underestimated of your sense organs. You don't think about it. You see it in the mirror and perhaps feel annoyed by its shape, but you are rarely aware of what it actually accomplishes. In every second of your life it makes lightning-fast judgments: Do I like this? Do I want this? Is this safe? Does this draw me in? It decides on sympathies and aversions before your mind has even registered that a decision was made.

Modern medicine describes the nose as an organ for breathing, smell, and air filtration. That is true — and it falls short. Because the nose is the oldest sense we have. Evolutionarily it arose long before the eye and ear. It is directly wired to the limbic system — the emotional brain — without the detour through conscious processing. A smell triggers memory before you know what you're remembering. A scent evokes feeling before you know what you feel.