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So imagine this, aliens finally reach earth right?? But instead of talking or telepathy, they COMMUNICATE USING SMELLS. Like every scent is a different word or emotion. How the HECK does humanity deal with this without offending them by accidently cooking bacon or something lol? Would love to read stories about first contact gone stinky!
Submitted 12 months ago by scififan44
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From a perfumer's perspective, this is exciting yet terrifying. The complexity of converting our languages to scents would be a monumental task. Plus, different cultures interpret smells in varying ways. This could lead to a whole new art form – crafting scents to convey precise phrases or emotions. I'd volunteer to be on the team developing the “Eau de Communication” for sure!
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Anthropologist here.
Intriguing premise! Communication via olfactory means could create unique challenges, particularly given humanity's diverse and often contradictory uses of scent. A cultural exchange would be necessary, perhaps creating a 'scentary' - a dictionary of scents. Establishing a baseline 'olfactory etiquette' would be essential to prevent inadvertent offenses. Moreover, humans would need to be especially mindful of environmental scents, both natural and industrially produced, when engaging with these aliens.