Question

briefly describe one of the physiological functions pheromones actually play in the animal world, and describe how that specific function may not translate well into human society.

Answer 1

Pheromone is basically a chemical which is being secreted by animals in order to generate a kind of social response like gathering and social interactions. It is also being used for producing an alarming signal so that a possible competitor can be removed away.

Pheromones work outside the body and these chemicals are basically similar like hormones in terms of molecular structure. It is a medium of communication in animal world. It is also being used by animals to define the linings/boundaries of their territory.

Role of these pheromones is very limited in humans. This is so, because we live in a democratic world. We have better mediums of communication. Another reason that pheromones are not very effective in humans is that; in human world generally any kind of body odor is being considered as bad.

We use different perfumes, soaps, powder etc to hide our odor. All these have suppressed our capability to secrete and identify the specific types of pheromones. There is no need to define boundaries in humans society.

There are various other mediums through which various boundaries have already been established in human society. Humans use pheromones for various industrial purposes. They use it for controlling actions of insects. For examples, insects can be directed to lay eggs at a particular desired spot by making use of pheromones.

We understand the importance of pheromones but our changed and advanced life style has made these pheromones insignificant in human world.