Memory - A Bridge Between Perception And Reality

Smell is something most of us can perceive, however, most of us have a difficult time putting a name to a particular scent. We can all describe, with great detail and accuracy (at least, we feel that we are being accurate), what a scent reminds us of, or what it's like, but finding one definitive label is difficult for us. Diane Ackerman in A Natural History of The Senses observes that the easiest way for us to most accurately describe smell is by relating it to memory. Smells can trigger some of the most visceral feelings and memories we have. And furthermore, those feelings and memories are a crucial part of understanding ourselves within the greater context of reality. 


Imagine you're walking down a random street in your childhood hometown, you don't go by there often, but today you chose to take the long route to work which passes through the neighborhood. You pass by a bakery, but immediately, not upon sight, but upon smell, you know it is not just any bakery. It's the same bakery you went to with your mother everyday after school. All of the sudden, you're transported back to your childhood - you're eating cookies after school again with your mother. And then the moment's passed... everything is back to normal, you're on your way to work again, but the feeling sits. That one particular scent makes you feel: you feel comfort, warmth, and joy - you take it all in. 

Smell is generally considered one of the less important senses in the Western world. I think that we can't accurately define scents because we feel smell. We subconsciously remember smell. People don't usually understand smell as a feeling, we don't connect smell to the way we experience and perceive reality and we don't make the connection that smell is a part of how we understand ourselves within the world. However, smell triggers memory - the bridge between perception and reality. Memories are what makes our reality real and distinct. Smell informs our perception of reality by tapping into visceral feelings that are induced by memories. The combination of both, which are to an extent inherently entangled, form the link between perception and reality. It is the translation that connects our personal experiences to some sort of objective or tangible reality.