Dailey Bailey: Why Do We Like the Smell of Our Own Flatulence?

When someone else passes foul and juicy gas, you find it repulsive. But when you pass gas toxic enough to kill a small animal . . . why doesn’t it bother you? Why do you almost kind of like it?

A YouTube show called ‘ASAP Science’ studied why. Here are the two main reasons:

1. Our negative reaction to other people’s gas is a biological instinct to protect us from disease. Because if someone rips one when they’re naked, poop particles swirl in the air and can make you sick.

But our noses are trained to recognize our own brand. Everyone’s gas has its own unique smell. And our brains know it won’t make us sick, since it contains our germs.

So we’re not repulsed by the smell. In fact, we like it because it’s kind of familiar.

2. The other reason is that your brain knows when you’re about to pass gas, so it has time to prepare. Other people’s gas can catch you off guard, especially if it’s silent-but-deadly . . . which really freaks out your brain. Now you know.