Does smoking (or smelling like smoke) keep mosquitoes away? I'm wondering if some second-order effect, like malaria prevention, led doctors back then to think that smoking was healthy.
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The king of smokers
71–80 of 93 posts
Re: The king of smokers
#72A dear friend of mine quit smoking, cold-turkey, and she went completely berserk for 3 months, with dangerous mood swings and outbursts of violence. She had previously suffered a mild depression, which now emerged as some kind of dark nightmare of rage and guilt and hatred and also self-hatred. This is what struck me: of all the SSRIs she'd had ever tried, none had ever worked as well as tobacco. Tobacco moderated he…
> A dear friend of mine quit smoking, cold-turkey, and she went completely berserk for 3 months, with dangerous mood swings and outbursts of violence. She had previously suffered a mild depression, which now emerged as some kind of dark nightmare of rage and guilt and hatred and also self-hatred.
> This is what struck me: of all the SSRIs she'd had ever tried, none had ever worked as well as tobacco. Tobacco moderated her depression and mood swings more effectively than any modern drug that her doctors had prescribed for her.
I'm not sure there is justification for the conclusion that the previous depression, and relatively severe symptoms on smoking cessation that, from your description, seem to be of a type that is known to be associated with nicotine withdrawal (though atypically severe) are indications that smoking was "treating" an underlying depression that morphed into something else when tobacco use stopped, rather than that the person involved had a past occurrence of depression and later had relatively severe nicotine withdrawal when they stopped smoking tobacco.
Re: The king of smokers
#73> [tobacco's] virtues rarely get a hearing, and yet the latter are many and great. To quiet nervous rest; to soothe a ruffled temper; to favour calm and partial thought; to steady and clear (not to cloud) a confused, overworked brain; to counteract the effects of physical exhaustion Taking this at face value, I wonder what impact such a drug could have on the productivity of a workforce, especially programmers. I als…
I would bet it's been replaced either in part or in whole by coffee. I know I drink coffee like people used to smoke (except at night when I switch over to tea). That and electronic cigarettes.
I used to smoke just for the nicotine benefits. Then I realized that I stunk more than I thought so I quit that and picked up dip (smokeless tobacco). It provided a much more prolonged nicotine "buzz" and I could use it at my desk. The spit was gross but as long as no one was around, I could do it as often as needed and keep focused on my work. After a few months of doing it regularly, I noticed my front, lower gums were beginning to recede. I dropped that and went back to smoking every now and then but still hated the stink on my clothes, hands, face, etc. I bought a cheap ecig pen and liked the slight buzz I could get from the nicotine. After a few years, I've stepped up to larger devices to get a larger buzz. It's not the same as cigarettes or dip but I can use it with no mess or strong smell at my home desk.
A few years ago, I got a diagnosis of ADHD and medication was a recommendation. Generic amphetamine salts are what I use now, both an extended (20mg) and quick release dose (10mg). They made more of a difference in my focus than I ever thought. Only problem is that my mind turns into a bullet, I do whatever work I start on with little to no distraction but I can easy end up wasting time if I get sidetracked right as the medication kicks in. Nicotine still has its place for me, I use it everyday to keep awake and alert for my work. Medication is strictly for days where I know I have don't have time for distractions.
Coffee has a milder effect than the medication but it's a nice, quick boost in concentration and alertness that can get me through a class or meeting. I usually avoid drinking it on days I take medication as I tend to feel a very strained feeling, it's very unpleasant sensation and I become hyperactive and careless with my work. Nicotine and coffee have a complementary feel, they have different effects but they fit nicely together.
I think stimulants are my favorite thing ever. I wouldn't be anywhere close to where I am now in my career without their help. Most of my weaknesses come from procrastination now instead of both procrastination and being easily distracted. I'm getting better at starting things on time now and with the boost of focus, I don't take as long getting my work done than in the past.
Re: The king of smokers
#74What was his cause of death?!
Re: The king of smokers
#75Does smoking (or smelling like smoke) keep mosquitoes away? I'm wondering if some second-order effect, like malaria prevention, led doctors back then to think that smoking was healthy.
No, it doesn't. Back when I smoked I would blow smoke at them and they would just duck and find a different direction to attack.
Works better when you blow the direct draw and not post inhale absorption. Still, its a waste and just drives them crazy so doubles the annoyance.
I don't think the nicotine in a drag is high enough to do much. From what I remember, much higher concentrations were or are used in ant killer.
Re: The king of smokers
#76One thing to note is that the purported health effects of smoking are almost all mental or neurological in function rather than physical. I imagine that before the modern era, where one could argue that mental disorder was far more uncommon, having tobacco to "modulate" mood and nerves would be seen as a legitimate boon to the user and society in general - especially when a person is liable to die from other physical illness than cancer (which takes a long time to develop). With reduced amount of mental illness a society can start to concentrate on the long term effects - people are more likely to get to the long term.
Re: The king of smokers
#77> [tobacco's] virtues rarely get a hearing, and yet the latter are many and great. To quiet nervous rest; to soothe a ruffled temper; to favour calm and partial thought; to steady and clear (not to cloud) a confused, overworked brain; to counteract the effects of physical exhaustion Taking this at face value, I wonder what impact such a drug could have on the productivity of a workforce, especially programmers. I als…
Note that the listed "virtues" are, in large part, descriptions of the relief of nervousness, irritability, and lack of focus resulting from nicotine cravings in nicotine addicts. Addicts to many drugs experience similar relief when they consume the drug to which they are addicted.
One would think that people in that era would have a lot more to be nervous and irritable about. It is actually soothing for those things even if someone is not an addict.
Re: The king of smokers
#78> To quiet nervous rest; to soothe a ruffled temper; to favour calm and partial thought; to steady and clear (not to cloud) a confused, overworked brain; to counteract the effects of physical exhaustion—these are just the things which tobacco does
Sure, tobacco is pretty bad for you in general, but all of these things are pretty much true. Do people not believe that tobacco has positive psychoactive effects or something? Kinda weird to see this put in a sarcastic light.
Re: The king of smokers
#79> [tobacco's] virtues rarely get a hearing, and yet the latter are many and great. To quiet nervous rest; to soothe a ruffled temper; to favour calm and partial thought; to steady and clear (not to cloud) a confused, overworked brain; to counteract the effects of physical exhaustion Taking this at face value, I wonder what impact such a drug could have on the productivity of a workforce, especially programmers. I als…
Note that the listed "virtues" are, in large part, descriptions of the relief of nervousness, irritability, and lack of focus resulting from nicotine cravings in nicotine addicts. Addicts to many drugs experience similar relief when they consume the drug to which they are addicted.
Have you ever smoked tobacco? This isn't really true. Tobacco really does have psychoactive effects even before you are addicted. Yes, all things considered, tobacco is basically evil and should be replaced with something else, but it's not like people are just making shit up about how good it feels.
Re: The king of smokers
#80Earlier quoted context omitted.
Don't most of the people espousing that attitude acknowledge that the smoking part has negative consequences? Hence vaping and edibles and such?
I actually expanded upon my comment to cover that and it didn't post. Smoking it we can all agree isn't good for our lungs. However I wonder about the long term mental impact on regular users. The only ones I've known (and we're talking a couple of people so not a big sample) regularly lose focus and zone out when I talked to them (and they were sober). We look at cigarettes and alcohol as indulgences. We know they c…
> ...long term mental impact on regular users...regularly lose focus and zone out when I talked to them
This is the number one stereotype of marijuana users, but I implore you to not lump all of us into that group. There exists a large portion of users that respect intelligence and try to lead interesting lives.
A big problem is that cannabis can make you feel totally OK with whatever you are currently doing, when otherwise you may feel bored and become motivated to do something else. Mix this with the fact that regular marijuana use probably won't destroy your life (it's simply not a hard drug), and you get people that float through existence feeling fine but then one day realize years have gone by and they forgot to develop unique skills or an interesting personality.
However, many people figure this out before it's too late and make sure that getting high goes hand-in-hand with doing something interesting. i.e. smoke and then create art, music, or software. For the people who don't realize this, well... the cold truth is that many people aren't smart or talented to begin with and maybe need some alleviation from the more painful aspects of the human condition. I believe weed is a better solution for this than hard drugs, Rx pills, or everyone's favorite toxin: alcohol.
Last of all I want to say that smoke is clearly carcinogenic, but there have been recent studies suggesting things that people would have thought crazy only 10-20 years ago:
http://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/treatment/cam/hp/cannabis...