Why Do People Like the Smell of Gasoline?

Visit https://brilliant.org/scishow/ to get started learning STEM for free. The first 200 people will get 20% off their annual premium subscription and a 30-day free trial.

Why do we love the smell of something like gasoline that provides no clear evolutionary adaptation for us? Here are the psychological and chemical reasons that some researchers have suggested.

Hosted by: Savannah Geary (they/them)
----------
Support SciShow by becoming a patron on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/scishow
----------
Huge thanks go to the following Patreon supporters for helping us keep SciShow free for everyone forever: Matt Curls, Alisa Sherbow, Dr. Melvin Sanicas, Harrison Mills, Adam Brainard, Chris Peters, charles george, Piya Shedden, Alex Hackman, Christopher R, Boucher, Jeffrey Mckishen, Ash, Silas Emrys, Eric Jensen, Kevin Bealer, Jason A Saslow, Tom Mosner, Tomás Lagos González, Jacob, Christoph Schwanke, Sam Lutfi, Bryan Cloer
----------
Looking for SciShow elsewhere on the internet?
SciShow Tangents Podcast: https://scishow-tangents.simplecast.com/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@scishow
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/scishow
Instagram: http://instagram.com/thescishowFacebook: http://www.facebook.com/scishow

#SciShow #science #education #learning #complexly
----------
Sources:
https://emergency.cdc.gov/agent/benzene/basics/facts.asp
https://wwwn.cdc.gov/TSP/PHS/PHS.aspx?phsid=466&toxid=83
https://nida.nih.gov/publications/drugfacts/inhalants
https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/Benzaldehyde#section=Effluent-Concentrations
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0165027021003575?via%3Dihub
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29070767/
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Rachel-Herz-2/publication/239919178_I_KNOW_WHAT_I_LIKE_UNDERSTANDING_ODOR_PREFERENCES/links/00b49532af991c02ed000000/I-KNOW-WHAT-I-LIKE-UNDERSTANDING-ODOR-PREFERENCES.pdf
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3828545/
https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-94-017-2558-3_4
http://www.idph.state.il.us/cancer/factsheets/gasoline.htm
https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxprofiles/tp72-c3.pdf
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK138708/
https://chem.libretexts.org/Courses/Sacramento_City_College/SCC%3A_Chem_309_-_General_Organic_and_Biochemistry_(Bennett)/Text/10%3A_Organic_Functional_Groups_-_Introduction_to_Acid-Base_Chemistry/10.03%3A_Physical_Properties_of_Carboxylic_Acids
https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/pdf/10.1146/annurev.psych.60.110707.163639
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780444638557000071
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fncir.2015.00049/full

Image Sources:
https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/video/young-woman-uses-her-smartphone-while-she-re-filling-stock-footage/1407635399
https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/berry-pie-royalty-free-image/171339819
https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/newborn-baby-one-month-old-holding-fingers-mothers-royalty-free-image/1439349585
https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/video/hand-of-a-gas-station-man-is-putting-gasoline-into-a-car-stock-footage/1385365373
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Benzene-aromatic-3D-balls.png
https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/video/nose-smelling-close-up-stock-footage/1293471002
https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/video/attendant-from-gas-station-refueling-a-car-stock-footage/1192664352
https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/video/woman-with-hand-in-breeze-stock-footage/156900027
https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/video/child-in-the-supermarket-buys-candies-and-sweets-stock-footage/989958448
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dopamine-based-on-xtal-3D-bs-17.png
https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/destruction-of-a-cell-conceptual-image-royalty-free-image/623942432
https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/video/gas-nozzle-is-getting-taken-out-from-cars-fuel-tank-stock-footage/1127307299
https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/fish-on-a-plate-royalty-free-image/828448720
https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/goat-looks-at-us-royalty-free-image/486869012
https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/video/cars-on-gasoline-refueling-station-time-lapse-stock-footage/1279988594