Are people who smoke weak-minded?

wretcheddomain · 01-09-2014 07:21PM #1

I firmly believe only sensible people would answer this question in the affirmative.

Let's take a look at the evidence.

They probably succumbed to smoking or continue to smoke for one of three main reasons:

Peer pressure
Lack of willpower to refuse/give them up
Psychological crutch

Therefore, smoking is premised on being weak and defective in some way. This is despite the fact smokers know they'll smell putrid and noxious around others, but they're willing to sacrifice this self-respect to maintain their habit for one (or all) of the reasons listed above.

Evidently, this will be considered an offensive analysis of their addiction, but while they may be offended, this does not make a good argument against this position. Seated in evidence as my post is, shouldn't we just accept it boils down to being weaker in mind than those who a) can cope with problems without psychological crutches and b) are strong enough to refuse them when offered.

In addition, there's a reason why some people give them up and some don't. Blaming it as an "addiction" appears, to me at least, to be a cop out.

Boskowski · 01-09-2014 07:23PM

So what is it if not an addiction? Are you saying they want to smell badly and kill themselves? I don't follow your line of argument.

miggins · 01-09-2014 07:23PM

Im not afraid to admit im weak ive tried and tried to quit smoking but I just cant

smash · 01-09-2014 07:24PM

Just because someone doesn't want to give them up it doesn't mean they're weak minded. It just means they don't want to give them up!

wretcheddomain · 01-09-2014 07:26PM

Boskowski wrote: »

So what is it if not an addiction? Are you saying they want to smell badly and kill themselves? I don't follow your line of argument.

No. I said that they're willing to succumb to a habit in full knowledge of the consequences (both health and olfactory-wise), whereas most people do not. I think it comes down to a matter of being weak minded in a significant way.

You can't compare teenagers either, as most teenagers decide against taking the habit up.

degsie · 01-09-2014 07:27PM

I find many of them small minded in the sense that they do not think cigarette butts are litter!

Boskowski · 01-09-2014 07:28PM

But the thing is when I started smoking and for many years after (I'm not smoking now btw) I simply liked cigarettes.

daviecronin · 01-09-2014 07:28PM

Anyone who starts smoking in this day and age are utterly stupid. No other words. Harming yourself for absolutely no reason and even worse harming the people around you - Coming from a person who isn't even legally allowed to smoke!

wretcheddomain · 01-09-2014 07:29PM

Boskowski wrote: »

But the thing is when I started smoking and for many years after (I'm not smoking now btw) I simply liked cigarettes.

That doesn't answer the question, as you'd have to start smoking to know if you would like them. I'm talking about causative reasons, not necessarily those that sustain the habit.

Aint Eazy Being Cheezy · 01-09-2014 07:29PM

No they're not weak minded. So what if they smell, chewing gum and a quick spray will sort it.

Life's short, smoking is pleasurable. You don't have to justify it.

The Backwards Man · 01-09-2014 07:29PM

Is this wonderful insight confined solely to tobacco?

Or are you going to expand it to include caffeine, chocolate, gambling, alcohol. sex, video gaming, marijuana and every other addiction, that only 'weak minded' people succumb to, under the sun?

kneemos · 01-09-2014 07:31PM

I used to smoke when I was weak minded,but since I quit I've suddenly become strong minded.

For Forks Sake · 01-09-2014 07:33PM

F0ck off OP, I can quit anytime.

*lights up*

The Peanut · 01-09-2014 07:35PM

Barack Obama,Bill Clinton, Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, all smoked. Weak-minded? Not so much.

wretcheddomain · 01-09-2014 07:36PM

The Backwards Man wrote: »

Is this wonderful insight confined solely to tobacco?

Or are you going to expand it to include caffeine, chocolate, gambling, alcohol. sex, video gaming, marijuana and every other addiction, that only 'weak minded' people succumb to, under the sun?

I should have foresaw that objection, weak though it is.

If you're talking about extremes, then absolutely yes. For instance, you mentioned chocolate - I think it would most certainly reflect a weaker mindset should an individual solely rely on chocolate to get them through the day. However, I hope you agree that this is quite rare in occurrence when compared with smoking. In other words, we can conveniently sideline the relative moderation of your list.

The extremity of smoking lies in the facts I outlined in the original post. People don't eat chocolate at 12 years old in full knowledge they'll become addicts and need a bar of chocolate twice a day for the rest of their lives. I like your somewhat facetious comment but, as you can see, it fails as an evidential rebuke - nice line though, you seem to have fooled a few people.

Boskowski · 01-09-2014 07:36PM

wretcheddomain wrote: »

That doesn't answer the question, as you'd have to start smoking to know if you would like them. I'm talking about causative reasons, not necessarily those that sustain the habit.

I guess I was young and stupid and sure a few years of smoking never killed anyone. And before I knew it I was smoking for 10 years.

Mmmm_Lemony · 01-09-2014 07:38PM

If anything, smoking increases your will power. I used to smoke for years and then gave up. Off them 4 years now.

If I had never started smoking I don't think I would have had the will power to give up! I get cravings all the time because that's from the lack of will power associated with not smoking.

wretcheddomain · 01-09-2014 07:38PM

Boskowski wrote: »

I guess I was young and stupid and sure a few years of smoking never killed anyone. And before I knew it I was smoking for 10 years.

Now would be a good time to go back and thank the validity of my post. :rolleyes:

If anything, smoking increases your will power.

Everybody - look at this quote - this is the harm that smoking can do.

ScumLord · 01-09-2014 07:39PM

Weak minded as opposed to the people who do whatever the government tells them?

Gubberment: Smokings bold don't do it!
Citizen: Your will be done.

Stinicker · 01-09-2014 07:39PM

What an absolute waste of money, 20 cigs a day is around €70 a week, now for a couple, husband/wife who smokes this is €140 a week and that is a mortgage payment right there.

Smokers are irrational and it is just plain stupid.

4 things I will never waste money on.

1). Rent, I will never piss hard money away on something I will never own.
2). Cigarettes, its burning money, stinks up everything and shortens your life.
3). Alcohol, again wasted money, shortens your life and makes you fat. I have enough social skills to enjoy myself without this scourge of Irish society.
4). Interest repayments, I won't make banks rich, I'm saving for a house and am over 70% of the ways there. If I want something I'll save for it and I won't borrow to make hedge funds and wall street bankers rich.

CaptainInsano · 01-09-2014 07:39PM

The Peanut wrote: »

Barack Obama,Bill Clinton, Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, all smoked. Weak-minded? Not so much.

How do you know what their minds are like? They could have been crippled with anxiety behind closed doors.

naughtysmurf · 01-09-2014 07:39PM

Smokers don't know they smell bad, I didn't until I stopped, now I vape so smell of peaches & sometimes apple

RayM · 01-09-2014 07:41PM

It's a pretty horrible addiction - and some people seem to find it more difficult to quit, not because they're weak, but because the side-effects of quitting aren't the same for everyone.

The manufacture and sale of cigarettes should gradually be banned. The vast majority of smokers became addicted before they were old enough to make such a life-altering decision. It's utterly immoral that companies are free to make billions as a result of getting children hooked on carcinogens.

Boskowski · 01-09-2014 07:46PM

wretcheddomain wrote: »

Now would be a good time to go back and thank the validity of my post. :rolleyes:

Everybody - look at this quote - this is the harm that smoking can do.

Not convinced yet. To some extent maybe.

Look I was like many very young people. I'm young I'm great I gonna live forever (metaphorically speaking) and sure I gonna give them up a few years down the road anyway. So what harm, lots of things are bad for you.
I'd say along those lines would have been my thinking back then.

One may argue that this is weak minded but surlye other definitions can be found.

I will also still have to be proven wrong that this is actually not going to work out for me too.

The Peanut · 01-09-2014 07:47PM

CaptainInsano wrote: »

How do you know what their minds are like? They could have been crippled with anxiety behind closed doors.

They could have or maybe not. The OP grouped a huge % of the world's population in a very sweeping statement. I picked examples of smokers who have a public persona that would indicate that they are not weak-minded.

Many people in parts of the world smoke. Many are not educated, living in remote villages. They are not aware of the dangers of smoking. It does not make them weak-minded.

I am not a smoker but the statement is just too broad. I'm sure many smokers are weak-minded but not all.

ScumLord · 01-09-2014 07:47PM

Stinicker wrote: »

What an absolute waste of money, 20 cigs a day is around €70 a week, now for a couple, husband/wife who smokes this is €140 a week and that is a mortgage payment right there.

Smokers are irrational and it is just plain stupid.

4 things I will never waste money on.

1). Rent, I will never piss hard money away on something I will never own.
2). Cigarettes, its burning money, stinks up everything and shortens your life.
3). Alcohol, again wasted money, shortens your life and makes you fat. I have enough social skills to enjoy myself without this scourge of Irish society.
4). Interest repayments, I won't make banks rich, I'm saving for a house and am over 70% of the ways there. If I want something I'll save for it and I won't borrow to make hedge funds and wall street bankers rich.

You enjoy being old and I'll enjoy being young.

The Backwards Man · 01-09-2014 07:47PM

wretcheddomain wrote: »

I should have foresaw that objection, weak though it is.

If you're talking about extremes, then absolutely yes. For instance, you mentioned chocolate - I think it would most certainly reflect a weaker mindset should an individual solely rely on chocolate to get them through the day. However, I hope you agree that this is quite rare in occurrence when compared with smoking. In other words, we can conveniently sideline the relative moderation of your list.

The extremity of smoking lies in the facts I outlined in the original post. People don't eat chocolate at 12 years old in full knowledge they'll become addicts and need a bar of chocolate twice a day for the rest of their lives. I like your somewhat facetious comment but, as you can see, it fails as an evidential rebuke - nice line though, you seem to have fooled a few people.

Jeanne Calment and Christian Mortensen certainly wasted their lives smoking.:P

wretcheddomain · 01-09-2014 07:51PM

You can still be strong-minded with many aspects of your life but still remain weak-minded when it comes to social pressures. Thus, the constant references to US Presidents and Celebrities just don't cut it. Moreover, I'd refrain from believing you understand the mind of a celebrity/president merely based on what you see on TV/Interviews - often the latter are just as much performances as anything else.

marienbad · 01-09-2014 07:51PM

Stinicker wrote: »

What an absolute waste of money, 20 cigs a day is around €70 a week, now for a couple, husband/wife who smokes this is €140 a week and that is a mortgage payment right there.

Smokers are irrational and it is just plain stupid.

4 things I will never waste money on.

1). Rent, I will never piss hard money away on something I will never own.
2). Cigarettes, its burning money, stinks up everything and shortens your life.
3). Alcohol, again wasted money, shortens your life and makes you fat. I have enough social skills to enjoy myself without this scourge of Irish society.
4). Interest repayments, I won't make banks rich, I'm saving for a house and am over 70% of the ways there. If I want something I'll save for it and I won't borrow to make hedge funds and wall street bankers rich.

So are you living at home in the meantime ?

Captain Chaos · 01-09-2014 07:55PM

marienbad wrote: »

So are you living at home in the meantime ?

Whats that got to do with the price of milk?

He'll be out debt free shortly instead of a 25-30 year loan hanging over him. I'd take that option any day than being forced to rent like I am.

B.A._Baracus · 01-09-2014 07:55PM

So op,
Smokers are weak minded. Hmm... Can't help but think you are bigging yourself up since you clearly do not smoke.

Are people who smoke weak-minded?

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