What about policies for government, business, and personal morality in the 21st century? An alarming trend is that we FEBREZE (everything, our homes, our clothes, our bodies, our jobs, our policies, and our morals. I am going to use febreze in a broad sense, while actually saying something about the actual product Febreze (hydroxypropyl beta-cyclodextrin) as the motif. Why do i use febreze as an example? Because what P&G claims for febreze is a lie, it is also a perfect example of our national crisis in respect to fake news. This industry giant has claimed that febreze eliminates odors, which it certainly does NOT, it masks odors, the two don’t equate. If one dissects their statement, you have to agree that their claim is entirely untrue.

Odor molecules are volatile organics for the most part, in my limited understanding of olfaction and the olfactory epithelium.  Whether we settle on the figure at the low end of the spectrum quoted in the literature for detectable odors (around 10,000) to the high end of the spectrum (1,000,000,000), olfaction is an important sense for us.  I wont quibble on either side of those numbers. The chemicals in air enter primarily through the nose, but also the mouth, and bind to those cute little knobs with wonderful looking sensory cilia on the top (lumental side) of olfactory epithelial cells.

Not all epithelial cells in the nose are olfactory epithelial cells, mostly it is respiratory epithelium.

But the processes and brain connections from olfaction is tied to many other systems in the body. The olfactory neurons are THE ONLY neurons in the body to make a straight path to the cortex (the olfactory cortex) all other neurons have intermediate connectors.  SO, for starters, neonatal bonding, absolutely necessary for survival and thriving, the infant being more apt so smell you than recognize your voice or face at birth. (THREAT: lots of febreze to make your nursery sweet smelling may not be that good for your baby, or their olfactory development (depressed senses) or bonding between you and your baby).

Memories from childhood about danger, about friends, about who your family and pets are is totally tied up in olfaction. In particular whether you grew up with no siblings, or in a family that was culturally related to neighbors, or more independent.  Research shows that early childhood olfactory events can contribute to at least three different kinds of (expressed by questionnaire) self-relatedness information: some being private, others more collective and those that feel part of the greater public at large (THREAT: Is it possible that the odor depleted environment produces less awareness of society in general, a more selfish and indulgent view of humanity).

Are you thinking independently when you go shopping? Not likely.  Volatile organics are pumped into many stores to increase the release of neurotransmitters, for alertness, for feeling peace and comfort which retailers deliberately want to control (the so called ambient scent and manicured right down to gender preferences. (THREAT: you many not even be aware that you are being manipulated by the marketing team of the retail store where you are…just a thought Joann fabrics always smells terrible to me… ha ha like formaldehyde, paint, plastic and preservatives offgassing, i wonder how the staff takes it and on the other extreme, the office worker down the hall sends out odors like Pier 1 imports… ha ha… totally out of context and really quite annoying.

Some odors stimulate neurotransmitter release – like that good smelling sweaty man or woman, in days gone by to ensure mating and the survival of the species (true in many species) and also to make some slippery-style guidance to have us choose “genetically similar/diverse” mates.  As a young woman i can clearly remember the “differences” in odors of those men that I dated, and it made impact on my behavior.  (THREAT: if you cant smell the mate that 100 million years of evolution has suggested for you, you may in fact make a mistake in your choice.  The remedy.. well thats for you do choose)

The smell of rotten foods, dirty surroundings, foul water, smelly sofas, garbage putting obnoxious volatile organic chemicals in the air are detected for a reason — guess what.  If it is rotten, bury it, throw it out, clean it up, don’t febreze it.  (THREAT: febreze does not eliminate odors as P&G suggests, ha ha, i puts it instead in a small basket of dextrin to trick your olfactory knobs on your olfactory epithelium into thinking that there is NO odor.  How is that eliminating odors to coat it with cyclodextrin to trick the nose…  you are breathing not only the volatile chemical but the basket used to cover it up.  Who has researched the long lasting effects of using febreze… ha ha…. go for it. NOT ME.

So the real issue here is that febreze does NOT do what it is claimed to do, it does not REMOVE odors, it masks odors, tricking the olfactory epithelium. GIVING THE OLFACTORY epithelium FAKE NEWS. Do you see where I am going with this.
Fake olfactory sensation is ok? no it isnt. Fake visual information (boob jobs, nose jobs, stomach bands, liposuction,etc etc etc) is ok? no it isn’t, one is fooling self, both psyche and morality. Fake news: well this is an entirely different blog, but the same principle. where is our morality.

Bottom line, we are all still idiots — so to speak, messing with natural functions (personal, family, child rearing, societal, dietary, pharmacologically induced)…the list is too long to waste time elaborating on…. it is everywhere and about all of it we are still clueless, and much of it is driven by profit and greed and power – what a sad commentary on humanity.