Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Why Roses Smell Nice

worldsensorium.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

31–39 of 39 posts

Re: Why Roses Smell Nice

#31

Post by seszett »

lovemenot wrote: post #17
JoeAltmaier wrote: post #3

This is all about chemistry and genetics. But nothing on 'why roses smell nice'. It's really a puzzle. Why on earth should Homo Sapiens consider a rose's smell to be 'nice'? Dogs like roses' smell about the same as shit. They don't give a damn. Further, why are rainbows pretty? Why is a waterfall inspiring? And on and on. You have to have some kind of special model to explain this, I think. Something beyond simple re…

Not all rose types smell as nice as others. There are countless types, all bred for specific characteristics over hundreds of years. If one such characteristic is pleasant smell (and why would it not be), then the answer is obvious. By and large, roses smell nice because human bred them to.

> By and large, roses smell nice because human bred them to.

That theory seems unlikely to me since wild roses smell good.

I would say that the modern roses that don't smell good have instead lost their smell because they were selected on other criteria.

Re: Why Roses Smell Nice

#32

Post by aaron695 »

JoeAltmaier wrote: post #3

This is all about chemistry and genetics. But nothing on 'why roses smell nice'. It's really a puzzle. Why on earth should Homo Sapiens consider a rose's smell to be 'nice'? Dogs like roses' smell about the same as shit. They don't give a damn. Further, why are rainbows pretty? Why is a waterfall inspiring? And on and on. You have to have some kind of special model to explain this, I think. Something beyond simple re…

[dead]

Re: Why Roses Smell Nice

#33

Post by yunohn »

yen223 wrote: post #28
throwaway462910 wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've seen the argument before that humans find flowers pretty because they indicate fertile land, where there are flowers there will be animals, etc. Impossible to really know, I suppose.

Anyone who's done any gardening would find that fertilizer - both natural and otherwise - do not smell pleasant.

Fertile land exists naturally without the manual addition of manure fertiliser.

Re: Why Roses Smell Nice

#34

Post by JoeAltmaier »

varjag wrote: post #6
JoeAltmaier wrote: post #3

This is all about chemistry and genetics. But nothing on 'why roses smell nice'. It's really a puzzle. Why on earth should Homo Sapiens consider a rose's smell to be 'nice'? Dogs like roses' smell about the same as shit. They don't give a damn. Further, why are rainbows pretty? Why is a waterfall inspiring? And on and on. You have to have some kind of special model to explain this, I think. Something beyond simple re…

It could possibly be ancestral from some specie that relied on flowers in a more direct way.

Rainbows then? A pretty rock? A lone tree on a remote hilltop illuminated by a sunrise?

Re: Why Roses Smell Nice

#35

Post by melagonster »

throwaway462910 wrote: post #4
JoeAltmaier wrote: post #3

This is all about chemistry and genetics. But nothing on 'why roses smell nice'. It's really a puzzle. Why on earth should Homo Sapiens consider a rose's smell to be 'nice'? Dogs like roses' smell about the same as shit. They don't give a damn. Further, why are rainbows pretty? Why is a waterfall inspiring? And on and on. You have to have some kind of special model to explain this, I think. Something beyond simple re…

I've seen the argument before that humans find flowers pretty because they indicate fertile land, where there are flowers there will be animals, etc. Impossible to really know, I suppose.

our monkey brain this mean fruits later, maybe.

Re: Why Roses Smell Nice

#36

Post by JoeAltmaier »

yunohn wrote: post #33
yen223 wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Anyone who's done any gardening would find that fertilizer - both natural and otherwise - do not smell pleasant.

Fertile land exists naturally without the manual addition of manure fertiliser.

...and smells much the same!

Re: Why Roses Smell Nice

#37

Post by varjag »

JoeAltmaier wrote: post #34
varjag wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It could possibly be ancestral from some specie that relied on flowers in a more direct way.

Rainbows then? A pretty rock? A lone tree on a remote hilltop illuminated by a sunrise?

These are definitely higher order experiences (requiring perhaps consciousness) that have nothing to do how your olfactory nerves were once wired.

Re: Why Roses Smell Nice

#38

Post by aziaziazi »

bsder wrote: post #11
aziaziazi wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here’s 206 roses trees varieties ready to order [0]. GF is a lot into flowers and got a lot of stuff from this store, highly recommend them for any plant, great quality and care. Europe only I guess. [0] https://www.promessedefleurs.com/rosiers/rosiers-parfumes.ht...

I don't see any varietal in there that I can't get from any other store that also doesn't have any scent.

I don’t doubt you’re more knowledgeable than me but if you can’t smell ”any sent” from 200+ “fragrant roses” varieties maybe the problem is to look elsewhere ? Maybe your odorat or your expectations ?

I do smell perfume from certain roses trees as well as does my GF and the roses gardener in this beautiful place [0]. Don’t think smelling roses perfume is a rare condition. Also you probably already know that food additives and ambiance perfumes smells roses like a banana candy taste banana.

I wish you success in your search.

[0] https://albert-kahn.hauts-de-seine.fr/en/collections/present...

Re: Why Roses Smell Nice

#39

Post by bsder »

aziaziazi wrote: post #38
bsder wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't see any varietal in there that I can't get from any other store that also doesn't have any scent.

I don’t doubt you’re more knowledgeable than me but if you can’t smell ”any sent” from 200+ “fragrant roses” varieties maybe the problem is to look elsewhere ? Maybe your odorat or your expectations ? I do smell perfume from certain roses trees as well as does my GF and the roses gardener in this beautiful place [0]. Don’t think smelling roses perfume is a rare condition. Also you probably already know that food addi…

Marketing can call a rose "fragrant" all it wants. That doesn't make it so.

I have bought almost every kind of varietal I can lay my hands on in an attempt to find roses with scent for my wife's birthday for 20+ years now. When I started doing this, it was easy to find varietals with scent--some of them would pump the whole house full of it they were so strong. In the last 5 years, even if I buy a scattering of varietals (generally I will buy 4-6 dozens in an attempt to find one), I have come up empty twice.

If, however, I go to something like the Del Mar fair and examine the roses which are called "fragrant", they actually are.

I'll leave the conclusions to you.

Post reply on HN