I recently enjoyed reading Olivia’s blog about the relationship between scent and memory. She argued that scent can act as a technology of memory and first talked about how scent can be a big reminder of past memories using the example of sunscreen reminding us of Summer, and pine reminding us of Christmas. While this was all very interesting, to a certain extent I felt I already knew this. However, Olivia then introduced the idea that scent may hinder us from forgetting bad, traumatic experiences. This really made me think, and after a short while I realized this was totally true, and I feel as if many people can relate to this. Countless times I have smelled something and thought of a person who I maybe was no longer as close to; it would bring back a sad memory. So, while scent may not be considered a “traditional” technology of memory, I’d have to say I think it is absolutely one, and one that most of us could likely relate to.

Thanks for reading and thanks again to Olivia for the great post!
Ben Ross