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6.2.1: Learning Objectives and Introduction

  • Page ID
    225173
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    Learning Objectives
    • Explain the salient properties of taste and smell that help solve the omnivore’s dilemma.
    • Distinguish between the way pleasure/displeasure is produced by smells and tastes.
    • Explain how taste damage can have extensive unexpected consequences.

    The Omnivore's Dilemma

    Humans are omnivores. We can survive on a wide range of foods, unlike species, such as koalas, that have a highly specialized diet (for koalas, eucalyptus leaves). With our amazing dietary range comes a problem: the omnivore’s dilemma (Pollan, 2006; Rozin & Rozin, 1981). To survive, we must identify healthy food and avoid poisons. The senses of taste and smell cooperate to give us this ability. Smell also has other important functions in lower animals (e.g., avoid predators, identify sexual partners), but these functions are less important in humans. This module will focus on the way taste and smell interact in humans to solve the omnivore’s dilemma.

    X-ray of teeth .png

    By just examining our teeth, it is apparent that we are animals who evolved to eat a wide range of foods. [Image: Justin Mclean, https://goo.gl/ffk7ZV, CC BY-NC 2.0, https://goo.gl/VnKlK8]


    Taste and Smell by Linda Bartoshuk and Derek Snyder is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available in our Licensing Agreement.


    This page titled 6.2.1: Learning Objectives and Introduction is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Michael Miguel.