Why do you smoke?

[Bruce Watson]

http://www.businessinsider.in/7-Things-Youll-Never-See-A-Real-Cigar-Smoker-Do/articleshow/45857142.cms

[Bruce Watson]

http://www.hitchedmag.com/article.php?id=2074

[Robert]

On Tue, 13 Jan 2015 11:59:12 -0800 (PST), Bruce Watson

Post by Bruce Watson
http://www.hitchedmag.com/article.php?id=2074

How to quit smoking: admit you are a puppet having no free will. When
told to jump by Big Tobacco, media, government, or anyone claiming
authority, your only question is how high.

[Bruce Watson]

http://www.hitchedmag.com/article.php?id=2074 

How to quit smoking: admit you are a puppet having no free will. When told to jump by Big Tobacco, media, government, or anyone claiming authority, your only question is how high. 

For you how high is 70.

[Bruce Watson]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2015/01/14/why-the-wealthy-stopped-smoking-but-the-poor-didnt/

[Robert]

On Wed, 14 Jan 2015 16:46:10 -0800 (PST), Bruce Watson

Post by Bruce Watson
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2015/01/14/why-the-wealthy-stopped-smoking-but-the-poor-didnt/

The answer is liberal bias through higher education. In 1960, 10% had
college degrees. Now, 65% have attended college and 45% have degrees.
We moved from an industrial to an information based economy. High
incomes are now concentrated in large cities, where people are more
liberal. Liberals are easily led because they have a strong sense of
right and wrong, and have been conditioned to follow instructions from
authorities (good corporate employees).

Maps show a high correlation between smoking and red (Republican)
states. The lowest smoking rates are in NY and CA, centers of
liberalism, high income, and corporate sell-outs.

[Malcolm]

Post by Robert

Post by Bruce Watson
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2015/01/14/why-the-wealthy-stopped-smoking-but-the-poor-didnt/

The answer is liberal bias through higher education.

Two topics that you know nothing about, liar.
http://smokersrightscanada.org/?page_id=29

[Steve O]

Post by Bruce Watson
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2015/01/14/why-the-wealthy-stopped-smoking-but-the-poor-didnt/

Natural selection is always fascinating.

[Bruce Watson]

http://m.economictimes.com/magazines/panache/trying-to-quit-smoking-avoid-pretty-women/articleshow/45887525.cms

[Bruce Watson]

1. You are smoking today because... you are addicted to the drug nicotine. You do not smoke to relieve tension. You do not have a "smoking habit." You were not "born to smoke." The only reason you do it is because lighting and smoking a cigarette makes the urge to do it go away, but only for about 48 minutes. Ask yourself this question: If you didn't get regular, overwhelming urges to smoke a cigarette, would you do it?

2. You are smoking today because... you have rationalized doing it. You do this so that you can come to terms with the fact that you are doing something that you know full well makes absolutely no sense whatsoever and is, in fact, extremely dangerous and very expensive. If you didn't personally deny the real reason you smoke by rationalizing your smoking and coming up with a, "good reason" for smoking, you would be wondering every time you lit a cigarette if this one was "the one," the cigarette of no return, the cigarette that would make an early painful death irreversible. Try rationalizing that.

3. You are smoking today because... the cigarette industry has been successful in "recruiting" you into its ranks. They probably got you at a pretty young age since almost 90% of all smokers start before they turn 19, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. The tobacco industry has done--are still doing--and will continue to do anything and everything they can get away with in order to get you and our kids addicted to nicotine.

4. You are smoking today because... the government wants you to smoke. Now, they have a good reason for doing that. They want your money. They don't really care what happens to you. If they did, they'd do something about it and stop providing the tobacco industry with new "customers."

5. You are smoking today because... you did not fully understand what would happen to you when you took your first drag. If you had known that you were going to take 7 to 15 years off your life and that there was a 50-50 chance you would die because of it after years of indescribable pain; that you would become addicted to the toughest drug there is to kick and would need to earn hundreds of thousands of dollars to keep your addiction satisfied, you probably never would have taken that first drag. That's why they had to get you when you were young, just as they get most of their victims. Once you learned what happened when you stuck your hand in the fire, you stopped doing it, unless you were addicted to doing it.

6. You are smoking today because... you do not know how to quit! Like I said at the beginning, if you don't approach quitting smoking as a learnable skill, you will probably never learn how to do it and the odds that you will be able to quit will remain stacked against you.

http://www.hitchedmag.com/article.php?id=2074

[Robert]

On Mon, 19 Jan 2015 08:08:46 -0800 (PST), Bruce Watson

Post by Bruce Watson
1. You are smoking today because... you are addicted to the drug nicotine. You do not smoke to relieve tension. You do not have a "smoking habit." You were not "born to smoke." The only reason you do it is because lighting and smoking a cigarette makes the urge to do it go away, but only for about 48 minutes. Ask yourself this question: If you didn't get regular, overwhelming urges to smoke a cigarette, would you do it?
2. You are smoking today because... you have rationalized doing it. You do this so that you can come to terms with the fact that you are doing something that you know full well makes absolutely no sense whatsoever and is, in fact, extremely dangerous and very expensive. If you didn't personally deny the real reason you smoke by rationalizing your smoking and coming up with a, "good reason" for smoking, you would be wondering every time you lit a cigarette if this one was "the one," the cigarette of no return, the cigarette that would make an early painful death irreversible. Try rationalizing that.
3. You are smoking today because... the cigarette industry has been successful in "recruiting" you into its ranks. They probably got you at a pretty young age since almost 90% of all smokers start before they turn 19, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. The tobacco industry has done--are still doing--and will continue to do anything and everything they can get away with in order to get you and our kids addicted to nicotine.
4. You are smoking today because... the government wants you to smoke. Now, they have a good reason for doing that. They want your money. They don't really care what happens to you. If they did, they'd do something about it and stop providing the tobacco industry with new "customers."
5. You are smoking today because... you did not fully understand what would happen to you when you took your first drag. If you had known that you were going to take 7 to 15 years off your life and that there was a 50-50 chance you would die because of it after years of indescribable pain; that you would become addicted to the toughest drug there is to kick and would need to earn hundreds of thousands of dollars to keep your addiction satisfied, you probably never would have taken that first drag. That's why they had to get you when you were young, just as they get most of their victims. Once you learned what happened when you stuck your hand in the fire, you stopped doing it, unless you were addicted to doing it.
6. You are smoking today because... you do not know how to quit! Like I said at the beginning, if you don't approach quitting smoking as a learnable skill, you will probably never learn how to do it and the odds that you will be able to quit will remain stacked against you.
http://www.hitchedmag.com/article.php?id=2074

I'm not smoking today.

I quit by no longer putting cigarettes in my mouth. If that rises to
the level of "learnable skill," I just found out I've learned
millions of skills. More likely, I didn't do it the right way -- the
way the author is so eager to teach me. Maybe quitting superior
attitude is another learnable skill.

[Steve O]

Post by Robert
On Mon, 19 Jan 2015 08:08:46 -0800 (PST), Bruce Watson

Post by Bruce Watson
1. You are smoking today because... you are addicted to the drug nicotine. You do not smoke to relieve tension. You do not have a "smoking habit." You were not "born to smoke." The only reason you do it is because lighting and smoking a cigarette makes the urge to do it go away, but only for about 48 minutes. Ask yourself this question: If you didn't get regular, overwhelming urges to smoke a cigarette, would you do it?
2. You are smoking today because... you have rationalized doing it. You do this so that you can come to terms with the fact that you are doing something that you know full well makes absolutely no sense whatsoever and is, in fact, extremely dangerous and very expensive. If you didn't personally deny the real reason you smoke by rationalizing your smoking and coming up with a, "good reason" for smoking, you would be wondering every time you lit a cigarette if this one was "the one," the cigarette of no return, the cigarette that would make an early painful death irreversible. Try rationalizing that.
3. You are smoking today because... the cigarette industry has been successful in "recruiting" you into its ranks. They probably got you at a pretty young age since almost 90% of all smokers start before they turn 19, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. The tobacco industry has done--are still doing--and will continue to do anything and everything they can get away with in order to get you and our kids addicted to nicotine.
4. You are smoking today because... the government wants you to smoke. Now, they have a good reason for doing that. They want your money. They don't really care what happens to you. If they did, they'd do something about it and stop providing the tobacco industry with new "customers."
5. You are smoking today because... you did not fully understand what would happen to you when you took your first drag. If you had known that you were going to take 7 to 15 years off your life and that there was a 50-50 chance you would die because of it after years of indescribable pain; that you would become addicted to the toughest drug there is to kick and would need to earn hundreds of thousands of dollars to keep your addiction satisfied, you probably never would have taken that first drag. That's why they had to get you when you were young, just as they get most of their victims. Once you learned what happened when you stuck your hand in the fire, you stopped doing it, unless you were addicted to doing it.
6. You are smoking today because... you do not know how to quit! Like I said at the beginning, if you don't approach quitting smoking as a learnable skill, you will probably never learn how to do it and the odds that you will be able to quit will remain stacked against you.
http://www.hitchedmag.com/article.php?id=2074

I'm not smoking today.
I quit by no longer putting cigarettes in my mouth. If that rises to
the level of "learnable skill," I just found out I've learned
millions of skills. More likely, I didn't do it the right way -- the
way the author is so eager to teach me. Maybe quitting superior
attitude is another learnable skill.

Robert, are you actually considering a permanent quit or is this just
another experiment?
If the former, then congratulations.

[Robert]

Post by Steve O

Post by Robert
On Mon, 19 Jan 2015 08:08:46 -0800 (PST), Bruce Watson

Post by Bruce Watson
1. You are smoking today because... you are addicted to the drug nicotine. You do not smoke to relieve tension. You do not have a "smoking habit." You were not "born to smoke." The only reason you do it is because lighting and smoking a cigarette makes the urge to do it go away, but only for about 48 minutes. Ask yourself this question: If you didn't get regular, overwhelming urges to smoke a cigarette, would you do it?
2. You are smoking today because... you have rationalized doing it. You do this so that you can come to terms with the fact that you are doing something that you know full well makes absolutely no sense whatsoever and is, in fact, extremely dangerous and very expensive. If you didn't personally deny the real reason you smoke by rationalizing your smoking and coming up with a, "good reason" for smoking, you would be wondering every time you lit a cigarette if this one was "the one," the cigarette of no return, the cigarette that would make an early painful death irreversible. Try rationalizing that.
3. You are smoking today because... the cigarette industry has been successful in "recruiting" you into its ranks. They probably got you at a pretty young age since almost 90% of all smokers start before they turn 19, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. The tobacco industry has done--are still doing--and will continue to do anything and everything they can get away with in order to get you and our kids addicted to nicotine.
4. You are smoking today because... the government wants you to smoke. Now, they have a good reason for doing that. They want your money. They don't really care what happens to you. If they did, they'd do something about it and stop providing the tobacco industry with new "customers."
5. You are smoking today because... you did not fully understand what would happen to you when you took your first drag. If you had known that you were going to take 7 to 15 years off your life and that there was a 50-50 chance you would die because of it after years of indescribable pain; that you would become addicted to the toughest drug there is to kick and would need to earn hundreds of thousands of dollars to keep your addiction satisfied, you probably never would have taken that first drag. That's why they had to get you when you were young, just as they get most of their victims. Once you learned what happened when you stuck your hand in the fire, you stopped doing it, unless you were addicted to doing it.
6. You are smoking today because... you do not know how to quit! Like I said at the beginning, if you don't approach quitting smoking as a learnable skill, you will probably never learn how to do it and the odds that you will be able to quit will remain stacked against you.
http://www.hitchedmag.com/article.php?id=2074

I'm not smoking today.
I quit by no longer putting cigarettes in my mouth. If that rises to
the level of "learnable skill," I just found out I've learned
millions of skills. More likely, I didn't do it the right way -- the
way the author is so eager to teach me. Maybe quitting superior
attitude is another learnable skill.

Robert, are you actually considering a permanent quit or is this just
another experiment?

I may be coerced into a permanent quit by biological necessity. It's
too soon to tell.

[Steve O]

Post by Robert

Post by Steve O

Post by Robert
On Mon, 19 Jan 2015 08:08:46 -0800 (PST), Bruce Watson

Post by Bruce Watson
1. You are smoking today because... you are addicted to the drug nicotine. You do not smoke to relieve tension. You do not have a "smoking habit." You were not "born to smoke." The only reason you do it is because lighting and smoking a cigarette makes the urge to do it go away, but only for about 48 minutes. Ask yourself this question: If you didn't get regular, overwhelming urges to smoke a cigarette, would you do it?
2. You are smoking today because... you have rationalized doing it. You do this so that you can come to terms with the fact that you are doing something that you know full well makes absolutely no sense whatsoever and is, in fact, extremely dangerous and very expensive. If you didn't personally deny the real reason you smoke by rationalizing your smoking and coming up with a, "good reason" for smoking, you would be wondering every time you lit a cigarette if this one was "the one," the cigarette of no return, the cigarette that would make an early painful death irreversible. Try rationalizing that.
3. You are smoking today because... the cigarette industry has been successful in "recruiting" you into its ranks. They probably got you at a pretty young age since almost 90% of all smokers start before they turn 19, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. The tobacco industry has done--are still doing--and will continue to do anything and everything they can get away with in order to get you and our kids addicted to nicotine.
4. You are smoking today because... the government wants you to smoke. Now, they have a good reason for doing that. They want your money. They don't really care what happens to you. If they did, they'd do something about it and stop providing the tobacco industry with new "customers."
5. You are smoking today because... you did not fully understand what would happen to you when you took your first drag. If you had known that you were going to take 7 to 15 years off your life and that there was a 50-50 chance you would die because of it after years of indescribable pain; that you would become addicted to the toughest drug there is to kick and would need to earn hundreds of thousands of dollars to keep your addiction satisfied, you probably never would have taken that first drag. That's why they had to get you when you were young, just as they get most of their victims. Once you learned what happened when you stuck your hand in the fire, you stopped doing it, unless you were addicted to doing it.
6. You are smoking today because... you do not know how to quit! Like I said at the beginning, if you don't approach quitting smoking as a learnable skill, you will probably never learn how to do it and the odds that you will be able to quit will remain stacked against you.
http://www.hitchedmag.com/article.php?id=2074

I'm not smoking today.
I quit by no longer putting cigarettes in my mouth. If that rises to
the level of "learnable skill," I just found out I've learned
millions of skills. More likely, I didn't do it the right way -- the
way the author is so eager to teach me. Maybe quitting superior
attitude is another learnable skill.

Robert, are you actually considering a permanent quit or is this just
another experiment?

I may be coerced into a permanent quit by biological necessity. It's
too soon to tell.

Well if you are then I hope that our discussions here have helped to
ease you into that transition.

[Robert]

Post by Steve O

Post by Robert

Post by Steve O

Post by Robert
On Mon, 19 Jan 2015 08:08:46 -0800 (PST), Bruce Watson

Post by Bruce Watson
1. You are smoking today because... you are addicted to the drug nicotine. You do not smoke to relieve tension. You do not have a "smoking habit." You were not "born to smoke." The only reason you do it is because lighting and smoking a cigarette makes the urge to do it go away, but only for about 48 minutes. Ask yourself this question: If you didn't get regular, overwhelming urges to smoke a cigarette, would you do it?
2. You are smoking today because... you have rationalized doing it. You do this so that you can come to terms with the fact that you are doing something that you know full well makes absolutely no sense whatsoever and is, in fact, extremely dangerous and very expensive. If you didn't personally deny the real reason you smoke by rationalizing your smoking and coming up with a, "good reason" for smoking, you would be wondering every time you lit a cigarette if this one was "the one," the cigarette of no return, the cigarette that would make an early painful death irreversible. Try rationalizing that.
3. You are smoking today because... the cigarette industry has been successful in "recruiting" you into its ranks. They probably got you at a pretty young age since almost 90% of all smokers start before they turn 19, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. The tobacco industry has done--are still doing--and will continue to do anything and everything they can get away with in order to get you and our kids addicted to nicotine.
4. You are smoking today because... the government wants you to smoke. Now, they have a good reason for doing that. They want your money. They don't really care what happens to you. If they did, they'd do something about it and stop providing the tobacco industry with new "customers."
5. You are smoking today because... you did not fully understand what would happen to you when you took your first drag. If you had known that you were going to take 7 to 15 years off your life and that there was a 50-50 chance you would die because of it after years of indescribable pain; that you would become addicted to the toughest drug there is to kick and would need to earn hundreds of thousands of dollars to keep your addiction satisfied, you probably never would have taken that first drag. That's why they had to get you when you were young, just as they get most of their victims. Once you learned what happened when you stuck your hand in the fire, you stopped doing it, unless you were addicted to doing it.
6. You are smoking today because... you do not know how to quit! Like I said at the beginning, if you don't approach quitting smoking as a learnable skill, you will probably never learn how to do it and the odds that you will be able to quit will remain stacked against you.
http://www.hitchedmag.com/article.php?id=2074

I'm not smoking today.
I quit by no longer putting cigarettes in my mouth. If that rises to
the level of "learnable skill," I just found out I've learned
millions of skills. More likely, I didn't do it the right way -- the
way the author is so eager to teach me. Maybe quitting superior
attitude is another learnable skill.

Robert, are you actually considering a permanent quit or is this just
another experiment?

I may be coerced into a permanent quit by biological necessity. It's
too soon to tell.

Well if you are then I hope that our discussions here have helped to
ease you into that transition.

They helped me understand the psychology and dynamics of antismoking.
All addictions work the same and educe the same behavior in former
addicts. The antismoking movement is larger than other anti- movements
because smoking attracted more primary addicts than others. It's that
simple.

People become antismokers and dry drunks when they regress to the
state they were in when they adopted smoking or drinking as coping
strategies, look for better coping strategies, fail to find healthy
ones, instead latch onto demonizing the substance.

Only a small percentage of former users join anti movements; most go
down healthier paths. Movements must reach a minimum size to gain
traction, and the relationship between size and influence is
non-linear. Thus, the only addictions that have viable anti movements
are those that once had a large number of addicts -- smoking and
drinking. Things like cocaine and gambling did not make the cut
because they never attracted more than 1-2% of the general population.

[Bruce Watson]

People become antismokers and dry drunks when they regress to the state they were in when they adopted smoking or drinking as coping strategies, look for better coping strategies, fail to find healthy 

ones, instead latch onto demonizing the substance. 

Maybe I didn't find the right groups but alt.alcohol and several others had no such thing.

[Steve O]

Post by Robert

People become antismokers and dry drunks when they regress to the state they were in when they adopted smoking or drinking as coping strategies, look for better coping strategies, fail to find healthy

ones, instead latch onto demonizing the substance.
Maybe I didn't find the right groups but alt.alcohol and several others had no such thing.

As a coping strategy, choosing nicotine is possibly the worst strategy a
person could choose.
It doesn't help anyone to cope with anything.
In fact, it tends to do the opposite, undermining the user's personal
strength and determination over time, leaving them with the false belief
that they are unable to cope with life or the simplest tasks without a
cigarette.

[Robert]

On Tue, 20 Jan 2015 08:43:16 -0800 (PST), Bruce Watson

Post by Bruce Watson

People become antismokers and dry drunks when they regress to the state they were in when they adopted smoking or drinking as coping strategies, look for better coping strategies, fail to find healthy 

ones, instead latch onto demonizing the substance. 
Maybe I didn't find the right groups but alt.alcohol and several others had no such thing.

I've read that AA has a fair number of unhappy quitters called 'dry
drunks' who regressed to their starting point, but then never moved
forward. They inveigh against alcohol, but have nothing positive to
offer. What's a term for their smoking counterparts?

[Bruce Watson]

I've read that AA has a fair number of unhappy quitters called 'dry drunks'  who regressed to their starting point, but then never moved forward. They inveigh against alcohol, but have nothing positive to offer. What's a term for their smoking counterparts? 

There's that fear again. You deny it but you keep bringing it up.

[Robert]

On Tue, 20 Jan 2015 21:23:31 -0800 (PST), Bruce Watson

Post by Bruce Watson

I've read that AA has a fair number of unhappy quitters called 'dry drunks'  who regressed to their starting point, but then never moved forward. They inveigh against alcohol, but have nothing positive to offer. What's a term for their smoking counterparts? 

There's that fear again. You deny it but you keep bringing it up.

I bring it up to describe antismokers. I couldn't sink that low.

[Bruce Watson]

dry drunks

According to AA a "dry drunk" is someone who has quit drinking but fails to address underlying emotional problems that caused out-of-controlled drinking.

Does anyone smoke in an attempt to forget one's problems? Nicotine doesn't do anything but addict. We started to smoke to appear older and sophisticated. As we became older and sophisticated we kept smoking only because we were addicted and didn't know how, or were afraid, to break the cycle.

If we had problems, once free of nicotine, they had nothing to do with tobacco.

[Robert]

On Wed, 21 Jan 2015 06:42:03 -0800 (PST), Bruce Watson

Post by Bruce Watson

dry drunks

According to AA a "dry drunk" is someone who has quit drinking but fails to address underlying emotional problems that caused out-of-controlled drinking.
Does anyone smoke in an attempt to forget one's problems? Nicotine doesn't do anything but addict. We started to smoke to appear older and sophisticated. As we became older and sophisticated we kept smoking only because we were addicted and didn't know how, or were afraid, to break the cycle.
If we had problems, once free of nicotine, they had nothing to do with tobacco.

It's about coping strategies, not forgetting one's problems. People
begin smoking to cope with insecurity. They continue smoking to cope
with stress, expressed as 'it relaxes me.' You say effects are
illusory (a con), but people believe in them. The Carr method attempts
to reverse those beliefs.

All addictions work that way. People begin cocaine, drinking,
gambling, and eating junk in order to cope with problems. Repeated
usage dissociates the activities from the original problems.

[Steve O]

Post by Robert
On Wed, 21 Jan 2015 06:42:03 -0800 (PST), Bruce Watson

Post by Bruce Watson

Post by Robert
dry drunks

According to AA a "dry drunk" is someone who has quit drinking but fails to address underlying emotional problems that caused out-of-controlled drinking.
Does anyone smoke in an attempt to forget one's problems? Nicotine doesn't do anything but addict. We started to smoke to appear older and sophisticated. As we became older and sophisticated we kept smoking only because we were addicted and didn't know how, or were afraid, to break the cycle.
If we had problems, once free of nicotine, they had nothing to do with tobacco.

It's about coping strategies, not forgetting one's problems. People
begin smoking to cope with insecurity.

Without ever once realising that nicotine and the effects of its
subsequent withdrawal is an actual source of anxiety, rather than a cure.

Post by Robert
They continue smoking to cope
with stress, expressed as 'it relaxes me.' You say effects are
illusory (a con), but people believe in them. The Carr method attempts
to reverse those beliefs.

Of course people believe in them - that's why they continue to smoke.
If they understood the deception, then their desire to smoke would vanish.

Post by Robert
All addictions work that way. People begin cocaine, drinking,
gambling, and eating junk in order to cope with problems. Repeated
usage dissociates the activities from the original problems.

No addictive drug has ever solved any problem for anyone.
They can only create problems of their own, in which the user is forced
to continue using the drug in order to temporarily eliminate the
problems it creates.

[Bruce Watson]

People begin smoking to cope with insecurity. 

Do they? Did you? I didn't. I was curious. My dad smoked all the time. I figured it must be the best thing on the planet. No 18 year old can fully understand what he's getting into. The adolescent brain doesn't fully mature until the late 20s. It took me a few more years to realize and reject the nicotine fraud.

[Robert]

On Thu, 22 Jan 2015 08:59:26 -0800 (PST), Bruce Watson

Post by Bruce Watson

People begin smoking to cope with insecurity. 

Do they? Did you? I didn't. I was curious. My dad smoked all the time. I figured it must be the best thing on the planet. No 18 year old can fully understand what he's getting into. The adolescent brain doesn't fully mature until the late 20s. It took me a few more years to realize and reject the nicotine fraud.

'
Antismokers say teens smoke to look mature and because of peer
pressure. You know it must be true if public heath authority figures
say it.

No, I didn't.

[Bruce Watson]

They continue smoking to cope with stress, expressed as 'it relaxes me.' 

Stress smoking causes.

[Robert]

On Thu, 22 Jan 2015 09:01:08 -0800 (PST), Bruce Watson

Post by Bruce Watson

They continue smoking to cope with stress, expressed as 'it relaxes me.' 

Stress smoking causes.

Stress means lack of control over daily activities and long term
destiny. There is no way smoking could cause that. It is caused by
obligations and bosses.

[Steve O]

Post by Robert
On Thu, 22 Jan 2015 09:01:08 -0800 (PST), Bruce Watson

Post by Bruce Watson

They continue smoking to cope with stress, expressed as 'it relaxes me.'

Stress smoking causes.

Stress means lack of control over daily activities and long term
destiny. There is no way smoking could cause that. It is caused by
obligations and bosses.

"Lack of control over daily activities"
That seems to be exactly the effect that nicotine has on the habituated
smoker, or why else would they be standing next to the dumpster on a
freezing cold day?

[Robert]

Post by Steve O

Post by Robert
On Thu, 22 Jan 2015 09:01:08 -0800 (PST), Bruce Watson

Post by Bruce Watson

They continue smoking to cope with stress, expressed as 'it relaxes me.'

Stress smoking causes.

Stress means lack of control over daily activities and long term
destiny. There is no way smoking could cause that. It is caused by
obligations and bosses.

"Lack of control over daily activities"
That seems to be exactly the effect that nicotine has on the habituated
smoker, or why else would they be standing next to the dumpster on a
freezing cold day?

It would be stressful if the boss made them stand by the dumpster. It
would not be stressful if they BELIEVE they voluntarily choose to
stand there. You say nicotine compels them to stand there; smokers
don't perceive it your way.

[Steve O]

Post by Robert

Post by Steve O

Post by Robert
On Thu, 22 Jan 2015 09:01:08 -0800 (PST), Bruce Watson

Post by Bruce Watson

They continue smoking to cope with stress, expressed as 'it relaxes me.'

Stress smoking causes.

Stress means lack of control over daily activities and long term
destiny. There is no way smoking could cause that. It is caused by
obligations and bosses.

"Lack of control over daily activities"
That seems to be exactly the effect that nicotine has on the habituated
smoker, or why else would they be standing next to the dumpster on a
freezing cold day?

It would be stressful if the boss made them stand by the dumpster.

It would still be a stressful experience with or without the dumpster
Nicotine is a cause of stress.
Whether they were standing behind the dumpster or not, as the nicotine
starts to leave, the user will start to feel slightly restless and
uncomfortable which is in itself a form of stress.
That nagging, uncomfortable feeling will continue and increase until it
is addressed with a further dose which will in turn create further
stress as it starts to leave the system.
The smoker cannot win.
In addition to the normal stresses of life they also have to contend
with the stress of withdrawal.
They are trapped in a cycle of relief and withdrawal in a futile attempt
to feel 'normal' and stress free, but they can never be completely
stress free while they are using nicotine.
I keep repeating this because sometimes you get it, and sometimes you don't.
Your mental dependence and conditioning towards the supposed beneficial
properties of nicotine is preventing you from fully appreciating the
significance of it.

Post by Robert
It
would not be stressful if they BELIEVE they voluntarily choose to
stand there. You say nicotine compels them to stand there; smokers
don't perceive it your way.

It isn't nicotine which compels them to stand there, it is smoking laws
and employers who compel them to do so.
Of course they have a choice whether to stand behind the dumpster or
not, but that choice is heavily influenced by the uncomfortable feelings
produced by withdrawal.

[Bruce Watson]

"One of the most famous campaigns of Bernays was the women's cigarette smoking campaign in 1920s. Bernays helped the smoking industry overcome one of the biggest social taboos of the time: women smoking in public. Women were only allowed to smoke in designated areas, or not at all. Women caught violating this rule were arrested.[12] Bernays staged the 1929 Easter parade in New York City, showing models holding lit Lucky Strike cigarettes, or "Torches of Freedom". After the historic public event, women started lighting up more than ever before. It was through Bernays that women's smoking habits started to become socially acceptable. Bernays created this event as news, which it was not.[citation needed] Bernays convinced industries that the news, not advertising, was the best medium to carry their message to an unsuspecting public.

"Edward Bernays" on @Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Bernays

[Steve O]

Post by Robert
On Tue, 20 Jan 2015 08:43:16 -0800 (PST), Bruce Watson

Post by Robert

People become antismokers and dry drunks when they regress to the state they were in when they adopted smoking or drinking as coping strategies, look for better coping strategies, fail to find healthy

ones, instead latch onto demonizing the substance.
Maybe I didn't find the right groups but alt.alcohol and several others had no such thing.

I've read that AA has a fair number of unhappy quitters called 'dry
drunks' who regressed to their starting point, but then never moved
forward. They inveigh against alcohol, but have nothing positive to
offer. What's a term for their smoking counterparts?

Forced abstentionists.
They are never happy.
They have quit smoking, but will always feel that by doing so they have
deprived themselves of a benefit, pleasure or crutch.
The happy non smoker understands that there are no benefits.

[Steve O]

Post by Robert

Post by Steve O

Post by Robert

Post by Steve O
Robert, are you actually considering a permanent quit or is this just
another experiment?

I may be coerced into a permanent quit by biological necessity. It's
too soon to tell.

Well if you are then I hope that our discussions here have helped to
ease you into that transition.

They helped me understand the psychology and dynamics of antismoking.
All addictions work the same and educe the same behavior in former
addicts. The antismoking movement is larger than other anti- movements
because smoking attracted more primary addicts than others. It's that
simple.

Oh stop it.
Yes, there are some assholes in the anti smoking movement but don't let
that stop you from doing what is right for you.

[Robert]

Post by Steve O

Post by Robert

Post by Steve O

Post by Robert

Post by Steve O
Robert, are you actually considering a permanent quit or is this just
another experiment?

I may be coerced into a permanent quit by biological necessity. It's
too soon to tell.

Well if you are then I hope that our discussions here have helped to
ease you into that transition.

They helped me understand the psychology and dynamics of antismoking.
All addictions work the same and educe the same behavior in former
addicts. The antismoking movement is larger than other anti- movements
because smoking attracted more primary addicts than others. It's that
simple.

Oh stop it.
Yes, there are some assholes in the anti smoking movement but don't let
that stop you from doing what is right for you.

You make up reasons for smoking; I make up reasons for opposing it.
Demagoguery is a two way street.

[Malcolm]

Post by Robert
They helped me understand the psychology and dynamics of antismoking.

Nonsense, liar. You know nothing whatsoever about "antismoking".
http://smokersrightscanada.org/?page_id=29

[Bruce Watson]

I'm not smoking today. I quit by no longer putting cigarettes in my mouth.

Do you feel like an antismoker yet?

[Robert]

On Mon, 19 Jan 2015 12:25:45 -0800 (PST), Bruce Watson

Post by Bruce Watson

I'm not smoking today. I quit by no longer putting cigarettes in my mouth.

Do you feel like an antismoker yet?

No. I haven't even considered telling a lie.

[Bruce Watson]

I'm not smoking today. I quit by no longer putting cigarettes in my mouth.

But still vaping?

[Robert]

On Mon, 19 Jan 2015 14:10:12 -0800 (PST), Bruce Watson

Post by Bruce Watson

I'm not smoking today. I quit by no longer putting cigarettes in my mouth.

But still vaping?

No vaping or NRT today either.

[Bruce Watson]

Robert wrote: 

Post by Robert

I'm not smoking today. I quit by no longer putting cigarettes in my mouth. 

But still vaping? 

No vaping or NRT today either.

Excellent. Keep it going.