# Subliminal Call of Nature

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subliminal-call-of-nature/3136>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [September 10, 1999, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subliminal-call-of-nature/3136 "1999-09-10T20:26:00Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![NanoByte](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecc23a/32.png) [@NanoByte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NanoByte)\
**Post date:** [September 10, 1999, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subliminal-call-of-nature/3136/1 "1999-09-10T20:26:00Z")

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Presently I share a bathroom with two other unrelated males. The bathroom normally presents no odor to my not terribly sensitive olfactory organs. If I go into the bathroom for a reason other than urination, I seem to immediately acquire a need to urinate. I don’t recall this effect from other bathrooms. I don’t remember such effect when this bathroom was mainly otherwise used only by a female. Humans don’t mark territories, do they? Pheromones at work? These having been put in bathroom cleaning supplies in order to increase toilet usage, and hence, cleaning supplies usage? Consumer paranoia? 😉

Ray (not raised by wolves)

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**Author:** ![BunnyGirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@BunnyGirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BunnyGirl)\
**Post date:** [September 10, 1999, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subliminal-call-of-nature/3136/2 "1999-09-10T20:55:00Z")

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My immediate guess is the Pavlov’s Dogs theory: that’s where you’ve been trained to go, so when you go there, you have to go.

Anyway, I’ve also read that in groups of females, at least, eventually most of the women will start to have their cycle around the same time. This has been attributed to pheremones of some type. Maybe one of your housemates isn’t such a neat pee-er and the little that does stick around (vs. flushed) stimulates some ancient “marking” drive.

One WAG provided free of charge.

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**Author:** ![Nickrz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bbce88/32.png) [@Nickrz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nickrz)\
**Post date:** [September 11, 1999, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/subliminal-call-of-nature/3136/3 "1999-09-11T00:09:00Z")

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Cecil on human pheromones:

[http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2\_206.html](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_206.html)

Cecil on menstrual sychronicity:

[http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2\_306.html](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_306.html)