Monkey in the Middle

Borrowed from: Bornforgeekdom.com

Throughout history people have been perplexed and fascinated by death.  What happens to us after we die?  Do we have souls, and if so, where do they go?  Religions from all around the world have differing views and beliefs on this subject, but in many cultures there are those who believe they possess supernatural abilities to communicate with those from beyond the grave.  These people are known as mediums, and although their powers are often refuted by both the religious and non-religious alike, as we will see later on, they remain prevalent in many parts of the world today.

For thousands of years humans have attempted to contact the spirits of the dead, as is even noted in the bible.  In belief systems like Spiritualism there is a separate realm, a spirit world, in which the spirits of the dead reside.  It is believed spirits can contact anyone, but certain individuals may maintain the power to call upon the spirits at will.  The name, medium, of course refers to the fact that they are attempting to act as a “Middle Man” and allow the dead to communicate to the living through themselves.  Mediums have often charged for their services, though, which is reason enough for some to discredit them.

The beliefs regarding, Mediumship and are varied, but often a medium will be used in either one of two ways: Mental Mediumship, in which the medium simply relates information from a spirit to a living person; And Physical Mediumship, in which a medium will experience the message through the senses.

One method skeptics would say a medium may use prove their access to the spirit world to their client is called a “Cold Reading” in which the medium will attempt to analyze their client by his or her race, ethnicity, clothing, etc. in order to determine convincing information about them that will seem to have been provided by a spirit, usually that of a dead relative, friend, or partner.

It is fairly commonplace for mediums and others with psychic abilities to be marked as frauds, which is why many believe that even those who have not been explicitly disproved must also be fake.  However a believer could argue that whether it’s in religion or business, liars and “charlatans” will always exist, so don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater.

Regardless of your views, the historical and cultural significance of mediums is still a fascinating subject, as it pushes the boundaries of how who and what people can communicate with.

Smell ya later!

In a clean environment, we like to imagine that the air is pure, without dust and dirt floating through it.  Say you’ve just finished cleaning your home, top to bottom.  With some of today’s chemical agents, your living space may acquire a ‘fresh’ or ‘clean’ scent.  But does this mean the air is pure?  Whether you realize it or not, the air is constantly filled with molecules that are being given off by the objects around you.  These molecules can travel their way up your nose when you inhale.  The particles then find their ways to small hair-like sensors called “Cilia” which they bond with, and your body interprets the information as a smell.  There are thousands of smells that the human nose alone can recognize, but we are not the only creatures with this ability.

The sense of smell (or Olfaction) in humans is used for many different purposes.  Anyone who’s ever been to a gym could tell you that deodorant is a must.  But instead of simply trying to mask their scents, people often go beyond, and try to apply smells to themselves that they enjoy (or that they think others will enjoy) smelling.  We also attempt to change the scents of the things around us.  Scented candles, incense, car/air fresheners, detergent, the list goes on.  Some of these methods have been in use throughout history.  But even so, is smell simply an aesthetic enhancer, or are there other reasons to possess such an interesting ability?

Animals often have senses of smell far superior to humans.  Dogs, for example, can smell anywhere from 10,000-100,000 times better than humans, one quote succinctly putting this figure into perspective: “If you make the analogy to vision, what you and I can see at a third of a mile, a dog could see more than 3,000 miles away and still see as well.” (Tyson, 2012)

Even if you’re not a mathematician, if you compound this with the previous statistic of how many smells a human can perceive, it seems our understanding of this sense as a species really only scratches the surface of its potential.  

Animals in the wild use scent for any number of purposes, including: detection of predators, finding mates, locating food, and even communication.  Many species rely heavily on scent, and may have (comparatively) poor vision, but animals with good noses make up for what they lack.  Dogs, for example, cannot speak the way humans do, but can communicate using what are called Pheromones, which are a type of scent a species can produce, usually to elicit a response from a member of the same species.  Animals may use these pheromones to express a range of things, like mood, territory, sexual availability, and gender, among other things.  For some species, like the ant, scent communication is so important, that they can be tricked into believing a fellow ant is dead, and carry them off to an “Ant Graveyard”, when in reality, the “dead” ant is still alive. (Krulwich, 2009)

Ever since these kinds of discoveries, people have wondered if humans, too, might use this form of communication.  Studies in which scientists collect sweat from participants and offer the samples to be smelled by others suggest that humans may indeed be subconsciously aware of things such as gender, or compatibility.  The theory behind this is that humans may use these senses to locate or determine potential mates, by deciding whose immune system would complement their own, in order to create healthy offspring. In a particular study to see whether smelling tears would create empathy, researchers asked women to watch a sad movie, and actually managed to gather the women’s tears (which sounds like a bizarre ingredient in a potion).  They placed the tears in an unlabeled container and other participants were allowed to sniff them.  Although they did not seem to elicit an empathetic response, men’s testosterone levels and sexual arousal dropped after smelling the samples. (Everts, 2012)

Some have decided that if there is a scent to turn someone ‘off’, that there must be one to do the opposite.  As the saying goes, “Sex sells,” and as research into human pheromones grows, so too does the market for products that advertise being able to enhance your sex appeal through pheromones.  Although these products claim to be scientifically backed, there is still no definitive research in this area so far.  This does not mean, however, that people don’t respond to the smells of others, and perfumes, colognes, and body sprays still remain quite popular.

The world of smell, through the good and the bad, can be a fascinating place. We clearly should continue to research and to discover to what full extent humans can use it to communicate.

Sources:

Everts, S. (2012, March). The truth about pherommones. Smithsonian Magazine, Retrieved from http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/The-Truth-About-Pheromones.html

Nordqvist , C. (2011, August 11). What are pheromones? do humans have pheromones?. Retrieved from http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/232635.php

How does the sense of smell work?. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://science.howstuffworks.com/life/human-biology/question139.htm

Human pheromones. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.macalester.edu/psychology/whathap/UBNRP/pheromone10/human pheromones.html

Tyson, P. (2012, October 4). Dogs' dazzling sense of smell. NOVA scienceNOW, Retrieved from http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/nature/dogs-sense-of-smell.html

Krulwich, R. (2009, April 1). 'hey i'm dead!' the story of the very lively ant. NPR, Retrieved from http://www.npr.org/blogs/krulwich/2009/04/01/102601823/hey-im-dead-the-story-of-the-very-lively-ant