“The ‘lead-crime hypothesis’ posits a direct correlation between crime and lead, or as you put it, ‘More lead, more murder.’ What’s the connection? During the post-war period, an enormous amount of lead was in the air from mainly two sources: Leaded gas, which everybody used for decades, and heavy industry like smelting… Many studies connect lead exposure to a particular kind of frontal cortex damage that leads to heightened aggression… The higher the lead exposure, the greater the brain volume mass, and reduced brain volume has been linked to higher levels of psychopathy.”
“Most people believe we have freewill. That we all choose our path. Sometimes the path is clear, sometimes not so much. Every twist, every turn, can challenge our sense of direction. But it’s the choices we make when we reach a fork in the road that define who we are.”
“For people could close their eyes to greatness, to horrors, to beauty, and their ears to melodies or deceiving words. But they couldn’t escape scent. For scent was a brother of breath. Together with breath it entered human beings, who couldn’t defend themselves against it, not if they wanted to live. And scent entered into their very core, went directly to their hearts, and decided for good and all between affection and contempt, disgust and lust, love and hate. He who ruled scent ruled the hearts of men.” — Patrick Süskind
“Odors have a power of persuasion stronger than that of words, appearances, emotions, or will. The persuasive power of an odor cannot be fended off, it enters into us like breath into our lungs, it fills us up, imbues us totally. There is no remedy for it.” — Patrick Süskind
