>people have been obsessed with taste and smell for thousands of years, and indeed it has shaped the course of history e.g. spice trade etc., so clearly fragrances are involved with a very basic and important human need.
You can't assume that just because people are obsessed with something it is a basic need. One counterexample would be that thing where they implant wires in the right spot in your brain and you become obsessed with pressing the button to zap yourself.
Firstly you misquote me, secondly you cite a highly artifical and slightly bizarre example that if anything disproves what you are trying to prove, and thirdly I'm not really sure I see the point of quibbling with the fact that our sense of smell/taste is tightly bound with survival, which was kind of my overall point albeit poorly expressed perhaps.
You can't assume that just because people are obsessed with something it is a basic need. One counterexample would be that thing where they implant wires in the right spot in your brain and you become obsessed with pressing the button to zap yourself.