Posted by isaac on July 22, 2001 at 02:53:40:
In Reply to: More on smoking various substances posted by Ryan on July 21, 2001 at 19:55:50:
: Interesting stuff:
: To Developer: I'm a 5w4. The 4 wing certainly contributes to a feeling of wanting to be cool, unique and defining oneself. I didn't smoke as much to play mental games with myself like Isaac seems to enjoy doing. It wasn't a logical decision although I used logic to defend the decision at the time. I don't think 5w4s are as "vulcan-like" as 5w6s can be, and even that type I think would tend to smoke in order to stave off anxiety or to fit in with others (the latter being one of the original reasons I started smoking, as I contend I have a secondary 6 wing).
: Not every 5 lives life as perfectly as possible using all their logical powers. I don't think 5s analyze all their actions each time they perform one. If we did we'd be indistinguishable from 1s. :) Seriously, I don't think I considered the logical implications of being addicted to smoking until 6 months after I had been doing so. We can't think about everything at every possible time. We're not supercomputers. We just think more than the other types do.
: Also, all logic is based on "feeling" somehow. The logical arguments against smoking are based upon the FEELING that pain and death are bad things and they aren't worth the good feeling and the "looking cool-ness" that smoking gives one. There are no logical absolutes. And as I said before, when I was in college the harms of smoking were a long ways away and therefore quite minimized in harm. I felt I could quit smoking anytime I wanted to (and of course I was mostly correct as I have quit smoking).
: And the reason I quit, you ask: Well, my girlfriend (who eventually became wife and ex-wife) didn't like smoking, and wouldn't have dated me if I did smoke. Since I was in love with her so much it was easy to quit. Love aside, it was quite an easy choice between cigarettes and sex. Who knows, if I had fallen in love with a fellow smoker I might still be smoking to this day.
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: To Isaac: That's interesting. I had started my smoking "habit" by smoking cloves. They got too harsh for me so I became a tobacco user. I don't think I ever experienced any kind of physical addiction at all to smoking. I've never had cravings. In fact, I'd characterize my personality on a whole as an extremely "non-addictive" personality. I jump from interest to interest quite easily, and smoking was basically just another "interest" to me. It was something to be explored and once explored there was and still is nothing new to attract me to do it again.
: You sound like some kind of mental masochist with your talk of enjoying withdrawal.
i'm sort of actually more than just a mental masochist. of course, masochism is really something that happens mostly in your head, huh? certain kinds of pain are just intensely satisfying. i'm getting another tattoo pretty soon. hard to explain what i get out of it. like trying to explain why you like spicy food to someone who doesn't like it.
: ...Maybe you'll change your thinking once you're out of college too. Of course, you do see life a bit differently than I do considering I've never really had any truly positive experiences with marijuana while you seem to think it's the cure to the world's problems. But I suppose, whatever you enjoy. You seem to have a pretty happy well-adjusted life and I've never been one to impose my way of thinking on others.
ryan, you rock. i wish more non-pot smokers felt that way, and told their congresspeople. i dont' think it's the cure to the world's problems, but it certainly fixes what's wrong with me.
isaac