Easier to live without: Your sense of smell or your cellphone?
A new study suggests that young adults value their gadgets more than their noses

Technology has become such an integral part of modern life that, given the choice, 53 percent of 16- to 22-year-olds say they would rather give up their sense of smell than their laptops, smartphones, or social networking, according to a McCann Worldgroup's study. And it isn't just American youth: The study looked at 7,000 people in the U.S., Spain, the U.K., China, Brazil, India, and Mexico. Is this a reasonable sacrifice, or have the kids gone mad?
What has smell ever done for us? There's nothing particularly shocking about this study, says HyperVocal. After all, "Facebook started revolutions in the Middle East," but "for the average young adult, sense of smell has yet to provide anything other than surplus pounds."
"Study finds youth would rather Facebook than smell"
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The kids need to get a grip: This is nuts, says Matt Kiebus in Death + Taxes. "I think senses are pretty dope," and if you take away smell, you kill taste. "Learning Morse code and re-learning how to utilize our postal system are better options than never tasting a medium rare filet mignon again." We already knew that email and text messages are stunting our interpersonal skills; now, they're also mangling our priorities.
"Technology trumps the sense of smell among young people"
It's a harder choice than you might think: Take off your "old man hat" for a moment, and you'll see how tough this is, says Chris Gayomali in TIME. "Quite honestly, if I were presented with the same question, I'm not quite sure what I would answer." I guess that's testimony to our "weird necessity" for technology these days. Maybe the gadget gurus can whip us up an artificial nose?
"53% of youngsters would choose technology over sense of smell"
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Today's political cartoons - March 29, 2025
Cartoons Saturday's cartoons - my way or Norway, running orders, and more
By The Week US Published
-
5 tactically sound cartoons about the leaked Signal chat
Cartoons Artists take on the clown signal, baby steps, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Roast lamb shoulder with ginger and fresh turmeric recipe
The Week Recommends Succulent and tender and falls off the bone with ease
By The Week UK Published