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Originally Posted by James81  I'm trying to think of all the smokers I know, and I can't think of anybody who I know who smokes who is arrogant. Actually, this is a trait that I've seen more in non-smokers than smokers. At least in the sense of when it comes to smoking. Non-smokers can really look down their nose at you and be uppity and downright rude to you if they see a cigarette in your hand. *shrug* |
This is Subjective Reality (as Plays With Life would say) at work
But see, the fact that I shared my experience led you to share yours; and now we both know that each of us experience each other the same way as opposed to ourselves.
The sum of two experiences is better than each alone!
For myself, I think this leads to a conclusion: smokers may not be arrogant as they seem, after all; it is just a trick of subjective reality
You may come to the same conclusion about non-smokers...
---> we have a common conclusion!
Perhaps, we can now both agree that, in general, smoking does divide people though, right?
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The part about altering the brain was good stuff. Really made me think.
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This might be of further interest to you:
The Cognative and Behavioral Effects of Nicotine: An Argument for Brain=Behavior
It summarizes some of the technical aspects of smoking and leads to similar philosophical conclusions as I do (the author of that essay is strictly naturalist / matter-over-mind / nature-over-nurture )
Quoting the most important parts:
"People who are addicted to cigarettes show behavioral patterns that are often contrary to those they would chose to exhibit. A big part of the discussion on whether brain=behavior has been the issue of free will. We all must eat, drink, sleep, and breathe; these are behaviors dictated by the brain as a result of the body's needs. If we want to survive, we have relatively little choice in these matters. However, no one needs to smoke to survive. If we define free will as the ability, when given more than one option or course, do choose and enact the option you want, then the choice to smoke or not to smoke should be a matter of free will. For a smoker however, this is not the case. I live in a smoking dormitory, and have heard numerous times the exclamations of friends swearing that they are going to quit smoking - I usualy see them lighting up before the end of the day."
[...]
Of the 30% of smokers who try to quit each year, only about 3% succeed. But even a smoker does not need nicotine to survive. I found no evidence of people having died from nicotine withdrawl. So if neuron functions can win out over free will - if matter can win out over "mind" - then this leads me to believe that the brain really does dictate behavior. Though 30% of smokers may desire to quit, the functioning of their neurons will not allow them to."