From 6/1/2002 until 2/18/08 I posted 1131 times to the Love-Scent Forum; I was a regular contributor who thought participants should be able to learn about the science of human pheromones. But, I had problems with one of Bruce's moderators on the Forum, who argued against my position, and also supported statements made by anonymous others. In my own words to belgareth: Different philosophical approaches to science are very old, but also have a huge impact on what we learn about pheromones; who we learn it from; and the significance of what we learn.
Belgareth had publically applauded the integrity of the anonymous "Bubba" on 2/16/07. Further, I surmised that both belgareth and "Bubba" were taught to believe in a "soft" science philosophical approach, which contrasted my "hard" science philosophical approach. Belgareth seemed to take my hard science approach as a personal criticism of him and the anonymous "Bubba". Though Bruce admitted he didn't understand the science, he took a back seat while DrSmellThis and others anonymously presented their unsubstantiated and unscientific opinions.
I had elaborated to belgareth: "Philosophical approaches to science are as unlikely to change as any other belief system. But learning more helps with change. What I'm trying to learn more about and help to teach others, is that philosophical approaches should not be the main criteria used either to interpret what is being said, or to judge the merits of research. By applauding Bubba's scientific integrity, I think you did more than referee the discussion. The philosophy of science (among warring factions) is very much pheromone-related. It is important to study design, significance of findings, and trust in the interpretation of results--among other aspects of pheromone research (i.e., the section of this Forum that might be best suited for my posts)." Then suddenly, I became a "banned user" of the Love Scent Forum.
Since my last post to the "Pheromone Research" section of the Love-Scent forum on there have been 4 threads started in the research section. Between 12/5/2004 and the date when I was banned, I started approximately 60 threads. This makes it obvious to me that the folks at Love-Scent are not at all interested in the science of human pheromones. Without that science, in my opinion, they lack credibility, and have gone the route of other marketers who seek only to greedily grab profits from unsuspecting customers who believe whatever is told to them by whoever tells it, even anonymous Bubba's.
I have allowed Love-Scent to exclusively market the Scent of Eros products despite my disapproval, because I do not want to take on the burden of marketing anything; I'm a scientist. Meanwhile, colleagues and I have presented results at scientific conferences that show the active ingredients in Scent of Eros (men) positively influence the videotaped/measured flirtatious behaviors of women, and also positively influence their self-reported level of attraction. Other studies are in progress, but I realize now that no matter what is scientifically accomplished, or who accomplishes it, marketers will continue to bastardize the concept for their personal gain. That's what marketers do, isn't it?
I am very pleased to see that this group of people who have demonstrated their long-standing interest in human pheromones has banded together here to allow for the integration of science with anecdotal evidence. Obviously, no matter what the scientists say, if product users are not satisfied with their results, the anecdotal evidence will sway future pheromone enthusiasts in the right direction (i.e., towards predictable results).
When the science and the anecdotal evidence both support predictable results, we can better be sure that progress will be made. In this regard, after many months without updates to my domains, I have begun the process of bringing the information current, both for other scientists:
http://www.pheromones.com and for product users:
http://www.scentoferos.com
Until recently, I neglected updates because I thought they were meaningless in the face of oft-repeated marketing claims (e.g., about the human VNO).
I will post a notice to this Forum when the updates are complete. I look forward to discussing the truth about human pheromones.
James V. Kohl
author/creator: The Scent of Eros