Al Jazeera, By Wilson Dizard, September 17
Politics stink — literally — according to scientists who released a study this week showing that people find the smells of others who share their political viewpoints more viscerally attractive than the odors of their ideological opponents.
The researchers suspect that preferences of this kind stem from evolutionary adaptations that support bonds between friends and allies.
“People could not predict the political ideology of others by smell if you asked them, but they differentially found the smell of those who aligned with them more attractive,” said Brown University’s Dr. Rose McDermott, the head author of the report.
“So I believe smell conveys important information about long-term affinity in political ideology that becomes incorporated into a key component of subconscious attraction,” McDermott said.
Or maybe the RightWingNutJobs are a bunch of anal-retentives with OCD, who feel the compulsion to shower four times a day and dowse themselves with perfume/cologne to mask the fact that they are animals. By contrast, the Dirty Hippies may be so designated because they only shower once a month – whether they need to or not. 😀
And maybe some professors have way too much time on their hands…