Okay this is the eeewww part, according to Marilyn Vos Savant (I’ll locate the cite if it’s absolutely necessary) odor smells because it actually has particulate mass distinct from the regular atmospheric mix we are used to breathing. I’m with the shirt breathers, just because I don’t smell it doesn’t mean I want to welcome it, unfiltered, into my mouth and lungs.
Either you misquoted her, or Marilyn is FOS. When you smell something, your nose (actually the olfactory organs in the nose) is detecting molecules of the material in the air. Particulate matter, such as dust, is too large to get into the olfactory organs.
Hang on tomndebb,
You discount Phlosphr’s Hawking example because the man “suffers a neurological problem [which] just might indicate that he is not typical on any sort of generalizations.” Fine- I agree. But then you give us some cites discussing the prevalence of mouthbreathing in victims of Down’s Syndrome. Somehow I don’t think these individuals are typical for any sort of generalizations. (And yes I note that you were not entirely happy with those cites.)
To counter your personal experience with mine, I have never noticed a correlation between mouthbreathing and lowered intelligence.
-Apoptosis
I breathe through my shirt when nasty odors abound because, like Bugnorton, I don’t want it entering my body. I know when I smell something bad, it is filtered, making it somewhat safer, but when that something’s smell enters the mouth, it doesn’t get filtered. So this leaves me with the option of (1) nose-breathing and enduring the foul stench or (2) filtering the air with my shirt. I obviously choose my shirt.
My first citation addressed mental retardation, not limited to Down Syndrome.
People suffering Down Syndrome do, typically (always?) suffer mental retardation.
Since the OP was asking for the source of stereotypes, then the common peception of the relationship between Down Syndrome and mental retardation is going to reinforce that stereotype. (For that matter, while Dr. Hawking suffers from ALS, his appearance is similar to victims of cerebral palsy who are often quite bright, but who are frequently treated by the uninformed as if they were of lower intelligence.)
The issue is not whether there is a true reciprocal realtionship between lower intelligence and mouth breathing, the issue is what is the source of that perception.
People with Down’s Syndrome always suffer mental retardation, AFAIK, and my sister is Down’s.
IIRC, a few people with Down’s syndrome have average intelligence, so they would not be technically classified as retarded.
No, what I mean is… You must be joking that leaving mouth open for bad smell is a good thing. Because it is not…
‘Clever’ people beleive that if you leave your mouth open for bad smells you let the bad smell particles into your system.
Whereas if you nose-breath you are using your nose for what it’s for (other than smelling things) that is - filtering the air we breath.
well— OK— I was only thinking about the best way to avoid the odor without looking like a goof (shirt up over nose)-- but I take all y’alls point about filtering out the molecules. Makes sense. But let’s face it, we are inhaling all kinds of nasty/dangerous stuff all the time that is odorless.
Still, I guess maybe I’m the mouth-breather after all!
True. We are an irrational species aren’t we. Even the ‘clever’ ones.
I keep my mouth closed because the open state is uncomfortable.
(and I am paranoid that I might have bad breath)
Hey tomndebb,
I fully understand the issue. However, I don’t believe that mouthbreathing is the first thing that enters most people’s minds when they think “Down’s Syndrome.” There are far more obvious traits associated with the disorder. None of your cites point toward mental retardation as the source of the perception that mouthbreathing is associated with stupidity. I remain skeptical.
-Apoptosis
Take a look at some old Medevial paintings of crowds scenes - there is sometimes a “village idiot” depicted somewhere in there, and he probably has his mouth hanging open. In college I took some courses in Chemical Dependency Counselling, and the professor pointed out that these “village idiots” in the paintings frequently exhibit the facial features typical of people who suffer from Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. i.e. Mom drank a lot while she was pregnant.
I’m suddenly reminded of the scene in Robin Hood: Men In Tights, during the archery contest. The awestruck peasant who declares, “He split Robin’s arrow in twain!” and then remains standing there frozen with his mouth hanging wide open.
Source is irrelevant. Correlation is all that is needed. (Many people treat intelligent Cerebral Palsy victims as if they were retarded.) As the dental site noted, people with mental retardation (not just Down Syndrome) tend to suffer from effects of mouth breathing. So we have one organization that deals with oral problems associating mouth breathing and mental retardation (lower intelligence). There is no need for a causal relation; an association is sufficient to power a stereotype.
Not having made an exhaustive study of the situation, I am not offended by your skepticism. However, I have provided some evidence for my position and have yet to see a good counter-proposal.
To what would you attribute the association?
I’m surprised no one has touched on the possibility that for those that don’t have a mental/physical disposition to “mouthbreathe”, might just be percieved as ignorant of the social standard that keeping one’s mouth closed it the accepted norm. One might think this person doesn’t know any better, or wasn’t given corrective advice about the status of their jaw.
I think Levdrakon had it right with the gaping thing. A mouth breather seems to be either confused or amazed at everything, since their at-rest facial expression is one that most people reserve for looking “dumbstruck”, which might have arisen from dumbfounded and awestruck.
These are just my theories. Since the issue is with public perception, it’s going to have a rather unscientific basis. Public perception is often based on erroneous assumptions and stereotypes. I guess the first thing that comes to most peoples minds is that the person is simple, a disease or sinus thing probably doesn’t even enter their minds.
Hey tomndebb,
I must admit that these two statements have me confused.
These two statements also have me confused.
However,
Point taken. The truth is that I have no counter-proposal, and do not necessarily disbelieve your stance. I do believe that my responses to you were more curt than I intended, and for that I apologize. I merely find it odd that such a (in my opinion) relatively innocuous trait of mental retardation would come to be used as an insult. Such is the English language.
-Apoptosis