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Same here. Not every smoker is a jerk. I resent people who are irresponsible or inconsiderate about their habit. I tend to speak up to them more quickly than many militant nonsmokers. I also don't smoke in my house because of my pets. It drives me nuts when people smoke in a house where other lungs live, especially the lungs of children or creatures that can't speak up about it.
It's worth noting that there's no common demographic among these "bad" smokers, though there seems to be a stereotype. Oh, how people love to generalize.
I sure wish we could ban the word smoker. A better substitute for it would be victim!
Back in England, years ago, they referred to smokers as dry drinkers!
Why do people still drink heavy, why do people still use drugs, why do people smoke/or drink/use drugs when pregnant, why do people still use snuff? People have been warned about all of these things and have been told what can happy to them, their loved ones or babies because of it, but it continues and prrobably always will. You will always have people that don't think the dangers apply to them, maybe don't care, or are just addicted and caught up in that mess.
Maybe, just maybe, it could be they've known of some young person who was killed/permanently disabled in a car crash that didn't smoke, didn't drink, didn't use drugs!
Warnings be damned! All they have to do is not go too far in finding someone who has smoked most of their life with no ill effects (Meet my Dad, smoked for 50 years, quit at 66, died at 96 without any ill effects), or someone who beat the odds with using drugs or drinking.
We're all gamblers, each and every one of us! You drive down the street, you see a horrible car crash, with bloody bodies strewn on the pavement, and as you pass by, as a gambler, what goes thru your mind?
"Serves them right! Someone was speeding, not paying attention, one of the drivers was drunk!"
"I'm a very careful driver, it'll never happen to me!"
"Yes, if I weren't so lazy, I could take the bus to work, that would lessen the dangers, but..........."
Why do people insist on marinating themselves in colognes/perfumes that reek so bad you feel sick breathing the toxic fumes? Why do some people insist on drinking alcohol? Why do some people eat unhealthy foods? Why, why, why??
Point being: if you want to know why someone does anything, go directly to the source and ask. Otherwise all you do is speculate.
12-25-2013, 07:02 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Pinkmani
I'm not even sure if this is the right category for this, but I'll give it a shot.
I don't understand why people still smoke despite the knowledge behind the damage that it can do to our bodies. Not only is it harmful to ourselves, but it is harmful to those around us. Also to add, smoking is an expensive habit. I'm in college and I'm shocked to see the amount of kids in the designated smoking areas. The cons outweigh the pros, so why would you do it (I have the same philosophy for drinking).
I'm not even sure if this is the right category for this, but I'll give it a shot.
I don't understand why people still smoke despite the knowledge behind the damage that it can do to our bodies. Not only is it harmful to ourselves, but it is harmful to those around us. Also to add, smoking is an expensive habit. I'm in college and I'm shocked to see the amount of kids in the designated smoking areas. The cons outweigh the pros, so why would you do it (I have the same philosophy for drinking).
Because smoking is a memetic behavior, rather than a rational choice.
No one exactly chooses to start smoking. No one ever gazed at a pack of Marlboro's, weighed the pros and cons, and decided that yes, indeed, sucking burnt ask into their lungs was a fine idea. Instead, people just sort of pick smoking from those around them, as a matter of semi-conscious imitation. People start smoking for the same reason women start wear earrings. Women start wearing earrings because early on, they get a message that wearing earrings is just something women do.
Because smoking is a memetic behavior, rather than a rational choice.
No one exactly chooses to start smoking. No one ever gazed at a pack of Marlboro's, weighed the pros and cons, and decided that yes, indeed, sucking burnt ask into their lungs was a fine idea. Instead, people just sort of pick smoking from those around them, as a matter of semi-conscious imitation. People start smoking for the same reason women start wear earrings. Women start wearing earrings because early on, they get a message that wearing earrings is just something women do.
That would explain current times. But what about hundreds, or perhaps thousands of years back when some unidentified, random Native American smoked the tobacco plant for the first time in the history of humankind?
What led to those guys to smoke the tobacco plant in particular, when there are thousands of other plants they could have chosen? What led Christopher Columbus and his crew to collect tobacco plants and take them to Europe and tell the people in Europe "guys, look this plant we found in the New World...go and smoke it", and people just started smoking it like if it was the most logical thing ever, and a few years later the whole planet was addicted?
I am not into conspiracies....but this sounds like the work of the Devil.
Because smoking is a memetic behavior, rather than a rational choice.
No one exactly chooses to start smoking. No one ever gazed at a pack of Marlboro's, weighed the pros and cons, and decided that yes, indeed, sucking burnt ask into their lungs was a fine idea. Instead, people just sort of pick smoking from those around them, as a matter of semi-conscious imitation. People start smoking for the same reason women start wear earrings. Women start wearing earrings because early on, they get a message that wearing earrings is just something women do.
Quote:
Originally Posted by katie45
Why do people insist on marinating themselves in colognes/perfumes that reek so bad you feel sick breathing the toxic fumes? Why do some people insist on drinking alcohol? Why do some people eat unhealthy foods? Why, why, why??
Point being: if you want to know why someone does anything, go directly to the source and ask. Otherwise all you do is speculate.
Well, I got my answer already from some smokers told me how they got started and why they haven't stopped.
That would explain current times. But what about hundreds, or perhaps thousands of years back when some unidentified, random Native American smoked the tobacco plant for the first time in the history of humankind?
What led to those guys to smoke the tobacco plant in particular, when there are thousands of other plants they could have chosen? What led Christopher Columbus and his crew to collect tobacco plants and take them to Europe and tell the people in Europe "guys, look this plant we found in the New World...go and smoke it", and people just started smoking it like if it was the most logical thing ever, and a few years later the whole planet was addicted?
I am not into conspiracies....but this sounds like the work of the Devil.
Indeed, after tobacco's arrival in Europe, in the 1500's, 1600's, being they viewed the Native American Indians as savages, satanic, many looked upon it as the work of the Devil. Initially, upon its arrival, they only used it for medicinal purposes, and decorative plants (it is indeed a beautiful plant with beautiful flowers!), but it soon gave way to the pleasure principle.
Early attempts to curb smoking, in various districts of Europe and the Middle East, involved cutting the lips of smokers, castrating them, and even the death penalty, in extreme cases.
But the lure of tobacco taxation by the governments was too addictive, so the governments became as addicted to the tax revenue as the smokers to tobacco. And with this revenue, they used it to wage wars.
During Napoleon's realm, 100 million francs poured into the Treasury, and smoking was encouraged, as more smokers more tax revenue, and thus the Napoleonic Wars.
No different than today, and as the price of cigarettes rises, the government becomes even more addicted to the tax revenue.
And there's another benefit to it for the government, smokers live shorter lives, less burden on social security and Medicare. The revenue far exceeds the treatment of smokers.
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