Philosophy Now Forum

John wrote:You do know he's almost certainly a bot?

I agree and I think it's what I'm beginning to think of as 'trojan bots', i.e. they are leaders for the actual spam yet to come.

Although I will apologise if proved wrong.

Mr. Arising

If this tax-man you mention were not just a "pen-pusher" but also a doctor he would know how difficult it is to say what causes what in a human body. There are multiple reasons too.
The human body is still a big enigma for modern medicine, even if they pretend otherwise.

Arising_uk wrote:

John wrote:You do know he's almost certainly a bot?

I agree and I think it's what I'm beginning to think of as 'trojan bots', i.e. they are leaders for the actual spam yet to come.

Although I will apologise if proved wrong.

As I was catching up with xkcd earlier I also thought today's was somewhat apt:

xkcd wrote:And what about all the people who won't be able to join the community because they're terrible at making helpful and constructive co-- ... oh.

smoking is so gross it makes me gag if people get drunk the alcohol doesnt get into people around them banning it seems like a good idea smoking i mean last year we went to texas and we went to this restaurant with a smoking section and the smoke was drifting to the non smoking section i nearly barfed i could not stay there

Richard Baron wrote:

duszek wrote:The pensions crisis is not resolved by smoking-related diseases. These diseases are not lethal, they make you a cripple to be cared for by the community.

I think that smoking does shorten life expectancy, and that if you impose a reasonable tax on tobacco, you can easily cover the healthcare costs.

duszek wrote:To solve the pensions crisis we have to consider pensions as a nice supplement to a normal salary. Everyone should work until they die, keep himself in good shape by walking long distances every day in free nature, praying and fasting.

http://www.the-tma.org.uk/tma-publicati ... m-tobacco/

The fact are that smoking raises £10 billion, which is around 10% of the entire health budget.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/backg ... /86599.stm

The health costs of smoking related disease is estimated at around £1.5 billion.

Case closed?

smoking is addictive behavior and if you take one form of addiction from an addict they will find another so if you ban smoking they will take up gambling or drinking more or whatever that will generate tax revenue i dont care people gambling and drinking dont give me dry heaves even smokers who are not smoking at the very moment still smell totally disgusting

Kayla wrote:smoking is addictive behavior and if you take one form of addiction from an addict they will find another so if you ban smoking they will take up gambling or drinking more or whatever that will generate tax revenue i dont care people gambling and drinking dont give me dry heaves even smokers who are not smoking at the very moment still smell totally disgusting

That is a common misconception.
Addiction of different substances hits different people in different ways.
This misconception has been used as a paradoxical and unfair excuse to ban drugs.
Cannabis leads to Coke , coke leads to Heroine - you've heard the story. So why don't they also ban smoking and drink.
Does not drink lead to other drugs, and does not smoking lead to cannabis?

PS it's s good thing to hear a young person so anti-smoking.
When I was a kid both my parents and grandmother smoked. i did not even know that it had a smell - except a faintly nice aroma which I associated with people sitting down calmly.
No wonder I started smoking as soon as I was able - at age 11!
As the addictive nature of the drug dug in, it became apparent from the News that the dangers of smoking were now being accepted. I've not smoked now for 8 years - but i think deep down I am still addicted.
I've done every other drug under the sun and have only ever been addicted to tobacco.

Kayla wrote:smoking is addictive behavior and if you take one form of addiction from an addict they will find another so if you ban smoking they will take up gambling or drinking more or whatever that will generate tax revenue i dont care people gambling and drinking dont give me dry heaves even smokers who are not smoking at the very moment still smell totally disgusting

What evidence do you have that people with an addiction will just get addicted to something else if they beat their addiction? If you're suggesting that giving up smoking will lead to gambling or alcoholism I think you'd better be able to back it up by evidence or else someone like me will say you're talking rubbish.

Actually, a friend of mine just got her doctorate in psychology and her thesis happened to be on this exact thing. She was telling me that the research shows that most addictive personalities do trade one addiction for another. But she was talking mostly about people who have gastric bypass or lap band surgeries for compulsive overeating so I don't know if applies to other addictions. The next time I see her I will ask her where I can find the statistics.

why do you think people who quit smoking gain weight

eating is an addiction too

artisticsolution wrote:Actually, a friend of mine just got her doctorate in psychology and her thesis happened to be on this exact thing. She was telling me that the research shows that most addictive personalities do trade one addiction for another. But she was talking mostly about people who have gastric bypass or lap band surgeries for compulsive overeating so I don't know if applies to other addictions. The next time I see her I will ask her where I can find the statistics.

Should the existence of addicts be allowed to prevent others from enjoying drugs?

I don't understand the question.

Kayla wrote:why do you think people who quit smoking gain weight

eating is an addiction too

Smoking suppresses hunger?

artisticsolution wrote:I don't understand the question.

Addiction is the main reason why they make drugs illegal.
For most people addiction is no problem, so why should I suffer from a prohibition on, say, cannabis, and Cokaine, to help those that might get addicted?
There is an added problem too - that alcohol and tobacco are addictive but they are not made illegal. These cause more social problems than cannabis ever could. So why have a prohibition on cannabis and not on alcohol or tobacco?
In fact what right does a government has to make anything that I might use to harm myself illegal - when it arbitrarily falls short of doing the same with cars, guns, bow and arrow, and many other lethal substances?
Is it not true that the law against drugs is more about stopping people having fun?

I believe I have heard some reference to banning smoking in homes in some news report, but can not quote the source, and may misremember. If true, I would have to agree that's a step too far.

However....

I remain absolutely amazed at how we tolerate the tobacco companies.

First, let me say I'm not a big fan of corporate conspiracy theories, as they usually seem to be grounded in purely partisan and emotional agendas.

That said, I must admit, the tobacco companies do seem to almost perfectly represent every hysterical negative assumption about big corporations.

They have deliberately engineered a highly addictive and destructive product, and lied about it at every opportunity for decades.

Their business model of selling addictive destructive products is responsible for a very high number of deaths, at a rate which seems to dwarf all other legal and illegal substances.

What I find remarkable is that we live in a culture that is close to hysterical regarding health and conspiracy theories. If 5 people die from some brand of aspirin, it leads the news and a Congressional investigation is launched. Pointing the accusing morally superior finger at others is a leading national sport.

And yet, the tobacco companies escape any real sustained focus decade after decade. It's truly remarkable how successful their PR departments are.

Because I've accused a number of forum members of being baby fascists, I feel compelled to admit my own fascists weaknesses. If I had the power, I would find it a real struggle to not immediately line all the tobacco company executives up against the firing squad wall.