Do cigarette smokers with higher intelligence consider the health warnings on the packaging?
Oh, those "idiots" smokers, huh?
Winston Churchill? Or that fella… what did he say his name was? Albert Einstein? Obviously morons. And then there was Isambard Kingdom Brunel — apparently evidence smoking kills your growth. He only built bridges, steamships, and a whole railway network. What could he have achieved if he wasn't a smoker?!
But none of them hold a candle to the definitive anti-smoker: Adolf Hitler, the guy who cooked up passive smoking. His crowning achievement? Killing millions. And now some American anti-vapers appear eager to top that record.
Now, in all seriousness.
I'm a smoker. I possess a PhD. I retired from a science career, and now I've begun another one — which apparently won't work because I'm a smoker. Strangely enough, it's getting more hectic. Regardless of the fact that I'm a smoker, and thus am deemed too "thick" to operate. But here I'm standing — and, incidentally, I've never killed anyone. Not even attempted it, it seems.
Let’s talk about those warning labels.
Look at them closely. Calmly. Without bias.
The body on the slab? That’s an actor. There’s no info about how he "died."
The teeth? That's something known as meth mouth — not due to smoking. You can look up the same picture online by searching. In fact, espresso will leave your teeth more stained. I'm close to 60 years old. Lost one tooth to rot and four due to accidents. You're going to attribute the one rotten tooth to smoking? After 60 years of sugar sandwiches, chocolate, doughnuts, and smoking? Please.
The lungs shown? They're pig lungs, blackened on purpose. In fact, city dwellers who don’t smoke often have darker lungs than rural smokers. Maybe there’s more at play than just tobacco?
It’s all staged. All of it.
And those fertility and impotence warnings? Funny, since the Baby Boom happened when 80% of people smoked. Think about that.
To be clear:
No, smoking isn’t healthy. I’m not saying it is. But the way the risks are shown — with fake photos and exaggerated claims — is misleading.
Warn them, sure. Provide them with the facts. But then — and this is key — let them make up their own minds. They're adults. It's no different than warning mountain climbers of falling, parachutists of chute failure, or skiers of avalanches. They know the dangers, and they opt to enjoy life anyway.
Don't say "smokers affect others,"
because I've probably never even met you, let alone touched your life. Just like a skydiver who crashes doesn't impact you. Unless he fell on you — in which case you wouldn't be reading this.
If cigarette smoke actually was as lethal as they say, you wouldn't be around long enough to complain about it.
I'm not expecting anyone to enjoy smoking — any more than I would expect anyone to enjoy rock climbing or skydiving.
The actual point:
Be rational. Don't accept every disturbing photo or headline simply because it aligns with your viewpoint. Individuals enjoy various things. That is life.
And quite frankly, life is more enjoyable when you quit trying to police everyone else.
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