definition

Taste vs Smell Distinguished by Use

The true distinction between taste and smell is not the organ or the distance of the stimulus but their use: taste is a largely innate, inflexible, near-binary sense used almost entirely to decide if something is good to eat (spit or swallow), while smell is complex, experience-dependent, tailorable, and used for a wide range of purposes from navigation to social interaction.

definitionpending

Speaker

Ed Yong

Evidence Quote

taste is a largely innate and inflexible sense that is used most, almost entirely to work out if something is good to eat or not

Source

201 | Ed Yong on How Animals Sense the WorldSean Carroll's Mindscape
Created: 6/13/2026, 12:16:01 AM

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