Stone Tape Theory

[Sharon Hill]

"Emotions don't generate measurable energy outside the body. "

What about fear?

I believe some evidence exists that there can be a measurably heightened response in regions of the brain, to the so-called fear-pheromone.
I've heard this suggested elsewhere as a possible cause of mass hysteria and deadly stampedes in crowds.

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2008/dec/04/smell-fear-research-pheromone#:~:text=The team found that the,pheromones released by other people.

Pheromones still seem to be in the questionable category. https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/03/do-human-pheromones-actually-exist
And I can't see how that could be recorded in the environment to be encountered much later. In the example you quoted, I'm pretty certain you don't need pheromones to make people behave oddly in crowds. Humans are wildly susceptible to suggestion.

 

[blessmycottonsocks]

Pheromones still seem to be in the questionable category. https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/03/do-human-pheromones-actually-exist
And I can't see how that could be recorded in the environment to be encountered much later. In the example you quoted, I'm pretty certain you don't need pheromones to make people behave oddly in crowds. Humans are wildly susceptible to suggestion.

Ooh as fans of the liminal, we do like our questionable categories here, Sharon!

As for "how that could be recorded in the environment to be encountered much later" my cricket team's changing room seems to have a permanently, shall we say, manly whiff, even after weeks of non-use. If a team of blokes exuding sweat, testosterone and goodness knows what else can leave a palpable olfactory trace, is it at least conceivable that the fear pheromone (if indeed it exists) could linger in a location where some traumatic event occurred?

 

[Sharon Hill]

Ooh as fans of the liminal, we do like our questionable categories here, Sharon!

As for "how that could be recorded in the environment to be encountered much later" my cricket team's changing room seems to have a permanently, shall we say, manly whiff, even after weeks of non-use. If a team of blokes exuding sweat, testosterone and goodness knows what else can leave a palpable olfactory trace, is it at least conceivable that the fear pheromone (if indeed it exists) could linger in a location where some traumatic event occurred?

Decades later? Hmm, not buying that.
That's not really what the stone tape idea implies, though, since it's said to be a mechanism for people to experience auditory or visual phenomenon and not just smelly body odor.

 

[Naughty_Felid]

Decades later? Hmm, not buying that.
That's not really what the stone tape idea implies, though, since it's said to be a mechanism for people to experience auditory or visual phenomenon and not just smelly body odor.

Yeah but I reckon those Roman soldiers seen marching through underground York must have been a bit whiffy.

 

[blessmycottonsocks]

Decades later? Hmm, not buying that.
That's not really what the stone tape idea implies, though, since it's said to be a mechanism for people to experience auditory or visual phenomenon and not just smelly body odor.

Interesting article here entitled "Does Archaeology Stink?" arguing that it is possible to extract olfactory molecules from ancient material.

The guys behind the paper employ a lab technique - headspace with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, for the process.
I acknowledge that it may be a step too far to claim that, at a quantum level, humans outside of a lab may be capable of detecting a smell that provokes a subconscious reaction. However, it does not strike me as completely impossible and I look forward to reading further material about this.

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10761-020-00552-w