What causes your lack of sense of smell?
I think it's mostly because I'm generally pretty congested. I don't know how normal this is (I don't imagine everybody's nostrils are always as clear as when they take some wasabi or horseradish), but my nostrils are usually pretty stuffy except when I'm working out.
When they are cleared out, I still have a pretty terrible sense of smell.
Honestly, I'm kinda glad I have no sense of smell because it seems like people usually complain about things smelling bad rather than appreciating how good thing smell (though, it seems pretty likely that people aren't going to say "My, it sure smells nice today!").
Information that surprises you is interesting as it exposes where you have been miscalibrated, and allows you to correct for that.
I suspect the users of LessWrong have fairly similar beliefs, so it is probable that information that has surprised you would surprise others here, so it would be useful for them if you shared them.
Example: In a discussion with a friend recently I realised I had massively miscalibrated on the percentage of the UK population who shared my beliefs on certain subjects, in general the population was far more conservative than I had expected.
In retrospect I was assuming my own personal experience was more representative than it was, even when attempting to correct for that.