My Superpower is Having Never "Dealt" it.

[JBear]

Alright, ya'll, I need to collect some data. For as long as I can remember, I have had the ability to close my nose on command, which is of course what I do when I smell something foul, and sometimes just find myself doing as a rest state. I never smell anything bad that I don't want to unless it catches me by surprise. However, my SO just... can't do this. She has to hold her nose closed with her hand, and thinks I'm weird. Meanwhile, I've always thought that physically pinching your nose was a performative act reserved for tv shows, cartoons, and trying to look like a jerk. So how commonplace is this ability or lack thereof? Should I report to Professor X? Should she? Is this just because I swam a lot as a child? Let's find out!

 

[Kirin]

I'm guessing it's the swimming. As a kid I wore a nose clip for swimming underwater but to get my Scuba certification as a teen I had to learn to control my airways without it. Of course, that was a long time ago, but I think if I concentrate I can still do it. But it's kind of annoying and takes effort, so for a momentary bad smell the manual method seems easier.

 

[Patrick]

I can close my nose internally on command too. It takes about as much effort as closing my eyes.

Maybe it is swimming related? I swam a lot as a child.

 

[YangusKhan]

No, this is not a thing I can do, and I have never even considered the possibility that other people can do this.

 

[Bulgakov]

How does a smell become bad?

 

[Octopus Prime]

Society is often to blame, but sometimes it’s in its nature

 

[Falselogic]

Ive swum most of my life and I've never heard anyone talk about just closing their noses. It isn't something I can do. Or even knew was a possibility.

 

[q 3]

I also never have been able to close my nose or even contemplated that others could do so.

I can, however, lift my upper lip to block the nostrils almost as effectively as using my hand.

 

[jpfriction]

I can dilate my nostrils slightly on demand. This is not helpful in a stinky dog farts situation.

 

[Kirin]

I can, however, lift my upper lip to block the nostrils almost as effectively as using my hand.

What. Now that's a superpower.

It should also be noted that the internal closing / airway control is a thing that happens somewhere back in an indeterminate location inside the nasal passages, and while stopping breathing through your nose certainly reduces scents a lot, I'm not entirely convinced it blocks them entirely. But I haven't experimented much.

 

[JBear]

It should also be noted that the internal closing / airway control is a thing that happens somewhere back in an indeterminate location inside the nasal passages, and while stopping breathing through your nose certainly reduces scents a lot, I'm not entirely convinced it blocks them entirely. But I haven't experimented much

I mean, like Patrick, I can do it effortlessly, and I assure you that I can't smell anything when I do it.

 

[zonetrope]

Yeah, I definitely can. Similarly: who else here can make a rumbling noise in their inner ear? My understanding is that this is another one of those physiological divides where each side didn't know the other existed.

 

[JBear]

Oh, I can do that one too! It has... far fewer practical uses.

 

[Falselogic]

I can do the make noises in my ears one.

 

[Patrick]

I don’t have that one.

 

[Vaeran]

Pathetic. This is the weakness at the craven heart of today's youth. Someone rips one, and you think I close my nose?

I BREATHE DEEP, MOTHERFUCKER.

I'M EATING GARLIC LIKE APPLES AND HUFFING FARTS UNDER THREE HUNDRED TIMES EARTH'S GRAVITY TO BECOME STRONG. STRONGER THAN YOU CAN IMAGINE. STRONG ENOUGH TO MAKE MY DAD YOUR DAD LOVE ME. AND WHEN THE CHEMICAL BOMBS ARE FALLING I WILL STAND TALL. I WILL TURN MYSELF INSIDE OUT AND BECOME UNSTOPPABLE. ALL WILL GAZE UPON MY BEAUTY AND DESPAIR

In time the screaming will quiet and the poisonous smoke will clear as radioactive winds howl down now-empty streets. There, at the end, in the final moments of this broken world, I will turn to the only other survivor: Martin Scorsese, and ask him what he really thinks of Marvel movies.

The dim, wretched terror I behold in his eyes will be all the answer I need.

 

[Violentvixen]

Is this just because I swam a lot as a child?

I'm guessing it's the swimming. As a kid I wore a nose clip for swimming underwater but to get my Scuba certification as a teen I had to learn to control my airways without it. Of course, that was a long time ago, but I think if I concentrate I can still do it. But it's kind of annoying and takes effort, so for a momentary bad smell the manual method seems easier.

Yep, trained to do this during swimming (especially during learning to do flipturns), but really learned it during lifeguarding as we had so many dives and carrying things and dunking in and out of water. I think rather than physically closing off the nose I'm actually shifting the pressure of the airways to prevent water getting in.

Really wish I could do it for my ears! Always get water in those.

Edit: for some reason this made me think of a scene from a kid's book and after searching a bit I think it's Pigs Might Fly. When the main character is learning to swim he has to learn to close off his nose and the other farm animals check on him during a scene. I remember reading this and trying to do it so I probably did start doing this even before high school. I could swim before I could walk so this isn't particularly surprising.

 

[Violentvixen]

Ah, found it! It's something like going halfway to clearing your ears (Frenzel Technique), and this guide for all the steps is the best I found so far. I think you're specifically talking about soft palate control.

I think what I mentioned above about clearing your ears after swimming/flying is the best correlation (for me). I've known a lot of people who have had to pinch their nose and blow to equalize their ears and that has baffled me, I don't need to do anything to pressurize my ears.