Poll: Do you smoke?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=596822

by brandon272 • 17 years ago

39 155 17 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

I'm interesting in finding out too. I regard nicotine and caffeine, along with emacs, to be essential for a hacking session. Yet of the people I know, smokers vs. nonsmokers seems to be half-and-half.

magoghm4• 17 years ago

And glucose. I smoke & drink Coke (Mexican Coke, the US coke is useless). Emacs: of course!

teej• 17 years ago

Have you tried Red Bull Cola or Pepsi Throwback?

PostOnce• 17 years ago

You smoke coke?

niels_olson7• 17 years ago

You should quit smoking. If you are ready to quit, http://www.smokefree.gov/

kilowatt• 17 years ago

Pot, socially

andreyf• 17 years ago

Pot, to help me think/write, never socially.

vaksel• 17 years ago

Another thing you need to take into consideration is the person's age. The younger people grew up during the anti-smoking health scare, so they aren't as likely to be smoking

edw519• 17 years ago

Warning messages have been on cigarette packs since 1966.

buugs2• 17 years ago

Yes but cancer education and the costs of smoking are more recent.

Now smoking is shown as a very deadly habit and many commericials (mostly from philip morris and their new requirements) on quiting and destruction caused by cigs.

asciilifeform• 17 years ago

I think it might be more due to the younger generation(s) being the first to see a large number of older smokers live long enough en masse to get lung cancer.

bdittmer2• 17 years ago

Ugh, not to be nit picky but it drives me crazy when people use i.e. incorrectly. What you actually wanted to use here is e.g. Here is a link that discusses the differences and how to use them both correctly: http://ancienthistory.about.com/od/abbreviations/f/ievseg.ht...

brandon2722• 17 years ago

Oh heavens... I know the difference, it was just an honest mistake. Simmer, bro! :)

dasil003• 17 years ago

+1 for sandwiching that sentence between "Oh heavens" and "Simmer, bro".

bdittmer2• 17 years ago

I don't think I was being hostile, just trying to inform. Down mod away though...

zitterbewegung2• 17 years ago

It would be very detrimental for me to smoke because of the fact that I have asthma.

jackowayed• 17 years ago

I second that!

but I probably wouldn't do it anyway. I hate being around people smoking, and not just because it sometimes makes it hard for me to breath. It smells so bad.

markessien• 17 years ago

Actually, if you smoked for 3 months steady, depending on the asthma type you have, your symptoms will get better. Coating your lungs in ash makes them less sensitive to the usual allergens.

zitterbewegung2• 17 years ago

Hrm. My asthma isn't bad enough to probably justify smoking but ehh.

randallsquared5• 17 years ago

Yeah, my roommate smokes, but used to have asthma. It seemed quite bizarre.

eugenejen2• 17 years ago

Interesting observation. I start suffering from hay fever after quit smoking.

mediamaker• 17 years ago

yes but not cigs and I prefer the vaporizer

mrinterweb2• 17 years ago

You're talking about those "e-cigarettes" right? How do they compare to the real deal in your opinion? I've been meaning to try one, but many e-cigarette are costly.

ashishk• 17 years ago

no...what he's talking about is essentially a smoke-less pipe/bong.

zacharypinter• 17 years ago

Last time a similar topic was posted it Hacker News it was quickluy closed, though I found it was very useful since it led me to ecigarettes. I'm primarily a cigar smoker. However, I'm now really enthusiastic about ecigarettes. After all, nicotine isn't such a bad recreational drug (aside from the addiction). The harmful part comes with the delivery. Now, I can smoke while I work and reap the benefits of increased concentration without the negative smell and health issues.

Zak4• 17 years ago

I have never been able to figure out what would possess a person to put something that smells like cigarette smoke in their mouth. Beyond that, most people I know who have tried smoking found the initial experience physically unpleasant (smoke burns the throat and lungs). The only explanation I'm aware of for people continuing to smoke after the first time is social pressure. From what I've observed, hackers tend to resist social pressure more than most people.

sil3ntmac• 17 years ago

Smoking cigarettes gives you a buzz...

cstejerean• 17 years ago

in the beginning

gustavo_duarte• 17 years ago

I have sort of the opposite take. I have smoked maybe 10 cigarettes in my life, but I think smoking is enjoyable. I don't do it because of the adverse health effects, but otherwise I'd love to have an occasional smoke while programming.

jacoblyles2• 17 years ago

Not to mention, it's a great ice breaker.

I'm not a regular smoker, but most of the cigars/cigarettes/pipes/hookahs I've puffed on in my life have been in a social context.

Pity about that whole lung cancer thing.

icey2• 17 years ago

I started smoking when I was 13. Mostly because it seemed like something "forbidden" to do. My parents smoked, so it was easy to get access to cigarettes.

As I got a little older, the "cool kids" smoked, so it gave a shy kid some openings for socialization.

I quit 5 years ago, and it was easily the hardest thing I've ever done. Some mornings I still wake up and reach for my pack before I'm fully awake

chanux3• 17 years ago

Why still keep a pack?

jetako• 17 years ago

You should consider that other people have different tastes from your own. Get off your high horse.

Zak4• 17 years ago

I have. There are a great many things others enjoy that I do not, but do understand. Among them are strawberries, onions, large luxury cars and programming in Perl. There are many things I enjoy that I fully understand why others do not. Among them are India pale ale, hot peppers, minimalist sports cars and programming in Lisp.

There are certain things some people enjoy that I do not understand the appeal of. Among those are smoking cigarettes, drinking urine and self-flagellation.

scotth2• 17 years ago

It only tastes unpleasant at first, then it becomes normal.

I actually have an interesting story that has to do with this. Last summer I was taking a newer smoking cessation drug named Champix. The drug works by binding with the same receptors that nicotine does, and prevents nicotine from having its effect. You take this drug while continuing to smoke, and about two weeks later, cigarettes lose their lustre. You still want the buzz, but you don't get a thing out of smoking.

Now here's the interesting bit. Without the buzz, cigarettes tasted gross again. I mean really gross. I didn't want anything to do with them. They smelled differently as well. Obviously I'm only relating a personal experience, and I can't say whether other people experience the same thing.

And to whom it may concern, I found the drug had other side effects (which may have also been related to smoking cessation), which lead to my smoking again. I lasted about two months, all in all, but throughout the entire period I was mood swinging like crazy. In the end, I found the solution worse than the problem, and decided to stop taking it.

tptacek4• 17 years ago

Don't ask me what led me to know this or use this comment to make inferences about my musical tastes, but Carter Albrecht --- the guitarist from (don't laugh) Edie Brickell & New Bohemians --- took Champix and then drank a lot, went completely nuts, tried to break into his neighbor's house, and got shot in the head.

DON'T DATE ROBOTS.

nop• 17 years ago

I smoked for nine years and I never really liked the taste, it only got slightly better once you got used to it but was still quite vile. Although the whole experience was pleasant and enjoyable. I suppose I could be unique in that regard, I've never tried to investigate the matter.

Kicked it cold turkey almost a year ago. :)

dpifke• 17 years ago

I smoked for about two weeks during high school, after a friend of mine sold me that bumming a smoke was a great way to talk to girls.

The smoking itself didn't do that much for me, so I pretty quickly gave it up.

lacker4• 17 years ago

The only explanation I'm aware of for people continuing to smoke after the first time is social pressure.

I think this is a bit off. The best explanation for smoking the first time is social pressure. Maybe the first few times. After that, the best explanation for smoking is nicotine addiction. When you are used to the effect of nicotine, smoking a cigarette makes you feel good.

Also, not that I advise smoking cigarettes, but you can avoid burning your throat and lungs with good technique. Don't just suck on it like you are sucking juice through a straw; you will inhale too much smoke too quickly. Instead, only loosely touch your lips to the end of the cigarette, and inhale slowly. That will both let air mix with the cigarette smoke and give it some time to cool. If you do it right you should not burn your throat or lungs at all and the experience should be purely pleasurable.

(Damn... I'm going to talk myself back into smoking if I'm not careful.)

brianmckenzie2• 17 years ago

I smoke on and off - tend to quit for awhile then start again. Back when I was doing full-time office-style programming gigs, I found it a good excuse to go outside and walk around if I was stuck on some particular problem, and it always worked wonders in that regard.

That being said, It's a nasty/expensive habit and I don't recommend it to anyone. Anecdotal evidence: of the 600 or so people at the last startup school, I saw maybe 4 people light up, so it can't be very prevalent among good hackers.

staunch2• 17 years ago

I was working at a well respected hacker company for a brief period. Out of something like 200 people in the office I was the only smoker as far as I could tell.

Ever since I've considered it a reasonable way to judge a company. Maybe a good interview question: "So, how many of your programmers smoke?"

randallsquared5• 17 years ago

You smoke, and you consider having few smokers as a good metric of company worth? Hm.

coffeeaddicted2• 17 years ago

That chance to just walk out for a few minutes (or simply just to walk...) was probably the main reason I didn't want to stop smoking when I still worked for companies. I just find it hard solving some problems while sitting at a desk - can't help it. Once I started working from home it was suddenly no longer such a problem to stop smoking. Now when I feel like it I just stand up and walk around the room. No more need for excuses.

I wonder if one of the desks where you can stand would also have helped - I never had the chance to work at one of those.

dsil• 17 years ago

I feared the same thing when I stopped smoking, but I found, to my great surprise, it's actually possible to get up from your desk and go for a little walk WITHOUT smoking.

brianmckenzie2• 17 years ago

I work from home and use a standing desk exclusively - hasn't helped me (permanently) quit smoking...although it has made me smoke quite a bit less.

derwiki• 17 years ago

When I worked tech support in high school at a company where almost everyone was a smoker, I used to take hacky-sack breaks. Ah, high school.

niels_olson7• 17 years ago

You should stop smoking. If you are ready to quit, http://www.smokefree.gov/

tsally• 17 years ago

I understand you're passionate about this issue, but you've really got to stop flooding the conversation threads with your postings. I don't object to one or two, or even more than that. However you've posted a ton of similar one liners with no sign of slowing down.

xiaoma• 17 years ago

You should quit telling others how to live their lives. If you are ready to quit, http://www.43things.com/things/view/324138/dont-tell-others-...

simplegeek• 17 years ago

Unfortunately, yes! I've been doing that for some time now. Though I personally don't like this habit but I've come to a point where I do this for pleasure. I don't smoke heavily, 5--6 ciggs/day. But that said, I wouldn't recommend this to any one. At one point, you really want to quit but it becomes harder and harder.

sho8• 17 years ago

Sure do. Drink, too. To be perfectly honest, I have difficulty relating to anyone who does not. It's like they're from a whole different world.

That said, I'm eagerly awaiting someone curing that whole "lung cancer" thing ...

dkarl• 17 years ago

Am I so different because I don't smoke? I believe in pleasure, and I judge every drug on an individual basis. I drink alcohol and coffee and occasionally smoke pot when it's offered to me, and I suppose I'll try mushrooms if the right circumstances present themselves. I can't think of any other drugs that make a good case. (I'm rather conservative when it comes to risks, especially because most of the available information comes from people with knee-jerk pro or con attitudes towards recreational drugs.)

According to my priorities and what I know about it, tobacco is not tempting. It's apparently highly addictive, it's intrusive on other people (though I sometimes enjoy fresh tobacco smoke when I'm drunk,) it leaves a terrible stale smell in rooms, carpets, clothing, hair, and upholstery, and it makes a person's mouth taste disgusting to anyone who kisses them. I'm sure some of that is just individual taste that other people might disagree with. Does that make me seem like I'm from whole different world?

jacoblyles2• 17 years ago

People that are righteously proud of not smoking and indignant at others who do seem like they're from a different world to me, unless they are allergic to the smoke or something. It's an individual decision based on individual taste. As long as people can keep that live-and-let-live mindset, I'm fine with them whatever they do.

sho8• 17 years ago

No. Not you, because you're coming at it from the same angle. You smoke pot, and do other drugs, when they make sense to you. You just don't particularly like tobacco. That is cool. I don't particularly like pot.

You hit the nail on the head when you said "knee-jerk pro or con attitudes towards recreational drugs". That is what alienates me. Unfortunately, for every enlighted fellow-self-medicating person like you, there's 1000 idiots who just want an excuse to be holier-than-thou. Extra points if the person telling you off is clinically obese!

I don't know .. the thing with tobacco is it's just so fucking useful. It's the thing to do next, anytime, anywhere. Smoking is what you can do while you pace around, dreaming of world domination. It's what you can do together with a cute girl you just met. It's what you do after sex. It's what you do while drinking. While driving. After you arrive. After closing a deal. It's just .. the universal activity. How do you replace it?

jrockway2• 17 years ago

I have difficulty relating to anyone who does not

There are a few reasons why I don't smoke. Besides the whole early death thing, the reality is that the "high" doesn't last long enough. You spend 5 minutes smoking and you feel good for maybe 15 minutes more. I just isn't worth the time involved. (Compare this to coffee, which I definitely have a lot of. 5 minutes with the espresso machine gives you something you can drink over the course of a half-hour or longer and with good effects that last for 2-4 hours. A much better investment of time, and it doesn't kill you.)

I also like cardiovascular activities, so a drug would have to be pretty good to risk damaging my lungs. Breathing is nice.

niels_olson7• 17 years ago

You should quit smoking. If you are ready to quit, http://www.smokefree.gov/

sho8• 17 years ago

Fuck off.

martythemaniak• 17 years ago

Everything except cigarettes actually - pot, sheesha/hookah, cigars, etc.

godDLL• 17 years ago

A pipe here. And pot too.

Batsu• 17 years ago

I'm much more partial to killing my liver than my lungs :) No smoke for me.

sho8• 17 years ago

Be egalitarian. Kill them both at once!

tdavis• 17 years ago

I smoked for 6 years; quit cold turkey on a whim earlier this year.

Edit: For those looking to quit, the first 3 weeks are pretty shitty, but after that not so bad. I still get the rare craving and occasional dream about smoking, but that's about it.

So far the only noticeable plus for me has been that I don't need to feel like a leper in public since for whatever reason most people are horribly offended by cigarettes these days. I was sort of hoping to develop super powers, though.

niels_olson7• 17 years ago

good job. Keep it up.

asimone• 17 years ago

But I only smoke in the evenings and never at work and it is anywhere between 0-5.

geuis• 17 years ago

How is this pertinent to Hacker News?

Zak4• 17 years ago

It's a survey of hacker habits. It's fairly low-value compared to the sort of content that usually makes it to #1 though.

brandon2722• 17 years ago

Under "What to Submit", the HN guidelines read "On-Topic: Anything that good hackers would find interesting. That includes more than hacking and startups. If you had to reduce it to a sentence, the answer might be: anything that gratifies one's intellectual curiosity.". I think that this certainly qualifies as something that gratifies community curiosity given the activity on the submission.

raluxgaza• 17 years ago

mahmud2• 17 years ago

Obsessive chain smoker here. 1.5 packs a day. But it's the last of my vices; before that I have tried everything from Opium to Salvia.

P.S. Though I'm Arab, I can't stand sheesha, way too heavy.

tptacek4• 17 years ago

What's sheesha?

jawngee• 17 years ago

hash.

aaronblohowiak• 17 years ago

You may be self-medicating for an undiagnosed problem, if you're interested in being without vice/self-medication, see your doctor about alternatives.

talleyrand• 17 years ago

I think we had this question recently. Anyway, same answer: yes, a pipe. The thinking man's smoke.

mitechka• 17 years ago

If I smoke a cigarette about once a month, does that count?

chanux3• 17 years ago

Yeah! There's only 1 or 0. Nothing between.

rg• 17 years ago

One day as I lit a cigarette someone said to me, "I used to smoke, and then I realized that I was the smartest person I knew who still smoked, so I quit." Later I thought about this and realized that I was the smartest person I knew who still smoked, so I quit too. Actually thinking about the smokers you know can be an eye-opening comparison.

tptacek4• 17 years ago

I don't smoke, but several people I know who are smarter than me do. Does that mean I should start?

lacker4• 17 years ago

No, only if everyone you know who's smarter than you smokes.

drhowarddrfine• 17 years ago

If you ever noticed, almost all restaurant workers smoke. I notice because I own five.

tralfam• 17 years ago

Just curious, how much does it cost to purchase a restaurant worker these days?

wyclif• 17 years ago

When your job is almost entirely about providing immediate gratification for other people, smoking is something you do entirely for yourself and your friends. Even if it involves huddling in the cold.

wkdown• 17 years ago

I've found it strange how so many chefs smoke. Smoking affects your sense of taste, which you would think is important.

For evidence, watch "Hell's Kitchen" or "Top Chef" ... or the service door of restaurants/diners/pubs.

lionheart• 17 years ago

I would never smoke cigarettes. Its an expensive and kind of a smelly habit.

I do like the occasional hookah or cigar though. That's something you don't do every day so I think its not bad on the expenses and health fronts.

nailer2• 17 years ago

You can smoke cigarettes and not do it every day. I enjoy the twice-a-month Silk Cut or YSL after a restaurant meal.

bestes• 17 years ago

Cigars, ocassionally.

zackattack• 17 years ago

I smoke a lot of weed, but I find that smoking while coding disrupts my working memory, which makes coding difficult. Working memory = the memory you use to keep a lot of stuff in mind at once = "the stack". Having to keep referring to the code to figure out my variable names/whatever, instead of just knowing them off the top of my head, slows me down.

scotth2• 17 years ago

Sounds like reason enough to give it up. If you're a coder anyway.

novum• 17 years ago

I smoke a lot too and this is spot on about weed making coding much more difficult.

The funny thing is, at work we have a code word for weed - "code". We've been joking about coding for months now...

magoghm4• 17 years ago

I don't know about coding & smoking weed, but coding on an LSD trip is very hard. With a huge effort you can barely manage to do it. I tried it as an experiment, but I'll never do it again. It takes out the fun from both coding & LSD.

chops• 17 years ago

I'm completely clean. No smoking, no drugs, no alcohol. I never have, and I have no intentions or desire to start. It's a lifestyle choice, and not a religious thing or anything like that.

Caffeine doesn't seem to have much if an effect on me, but occasionally, if I need to hit a deadline in coding, I'll try in vain to generate extra energy with caffeine, but that's about it as far as drugs go for me.

whatusername• 17 years ago

wow. I've never done drugs or smoking, but 100% no alcohol is pretty rare to find.. I'm impressed.

On Caffeine - I assume you've seen this pic before: Still amuses me though: http://www.coffee.co.uk/images/spider.jpg

patio11• 17 years ago

100% no alcohol is pretty rare to find

Well, now there are two of us. My cover story for friends and coworkers is that I have a lethal allergy to alcohol. (I live in Japan -- it is easier, and more socially acceptable, to lie on this question than tell the truth.) When I was younger, I did not want to end up a drunk. These days, even assuming that I would probably not end up a drunk, there does not seem to be anything missing in my life that could get conveniently replaced by alcohol.

rjprins• 17 years ago

Out my 10 closest friends, 3 will not drink a sip of alcohol. And none do it out of religious grounds.

gcheong• 17 years ago

Used to smoke several packs a day since junior year in high school until a couple years in college then gave it up cold turkey.

jokermatt999• 17 years ago

Yes, but only 1 or 2 cigarettes a day. I find it helps with stress and a bad temper. It's certainly not the best way, but it's worked fairly well. Since I don't smoke much, 1 cigarette alters my mood a good deal, and I don't really feel too much of an adverse effect if I don't smoke.

JereCoh• 17 years ago

No, and as I say to hot guys who do smoke, "There's only one fag you should be putting into your mouth and I don't contain nicotine."

J_McQuade2• 17 years ago

I do not smoke, but have in the past. I'll try and explain my reasons here, in case anyone might be interested.

The first thing I'd like to mention here is that, no matter what you say, smoking is goddamn cool. A lot of senselessly dangerous things are, so just live with it. If I see someone sat with a glass of wine and a cigarette, I think 'cool'. You probably do, to (at least if you've ever spent time in Europe). This is not really relevant, but I just wanted to get it off my (still functioning!) chest.

See, I actually took up smoking a short while ago (definitely old enough to 'know better') and then quit almost a year afterwards - and I did it mainly as an experiment. An experiment, that is, to ease the curiosity of never having known what it is like to be genuinely addicted to something. Properly "I need this" addicted. I mean, I thought I liked chocolate, but I'd never found myself counting the minutes until I grabbed my next mars bar.

But yes, it was interesting in many ways. First of all, nicotine is definitely great stuff - everything smokers tell you about being more alert, awake, on-the ball and in control is absolutely true. If I were to try and describe the effect, I would say that it makes it much easier to be happy. It doesn't make you happy, or alter your state of mind in any really noticeable way, but you'll just find yourself being more contented in what you are doing. You'll be more ready to be pleased with yourself, if you will. And that's nice.

However, I did stop. Smoking is, really, quite naff. Everything anti-smokers tell you about it stinking, making you feel dreadful in between every spark-up, and effecting your general health is also absolutely true. But the strange thing is, I didn't actually care at the time. I only decided to stop because I realised that it had become a habit. I had started to do it less for the positives and more to placate the negatives. It had become irrational, and I didn't like the thought of that.

So yes, I quit. And it was hard. Really hard, actually. I'd probably still be at it now if it wasn't for a Scandinavian friend of mine introducing me to Swedish 'Snus' - a moist ground oral tobacco (debatably) reckoned to be nigh-on carcinogen free. It seems to have none of the drawbacks of smoking, yet all of the benefits (apart from the 'cool' factor - in fact, a wad of sticky brown mud in your top lip is the opposite of cool). It also leaves your hands free for more important things; I mean, try using emacs with a lit ciggy in your hand! I'd say everyone should use the stuff, but it's hard to get a hold of in the EU (senseless blanket ban) and, well, you can imagine how inelegant it is. Certainly helped to wean me off the fags.

All in all, I'd say that it was worth doing. I can now very happily play devil's advocate to any smoking-related rant and have learned to disassociate the practice from any notion of a person's awareness, intelligence or background. Smoking is cool, smoking is pleasurable and, and this is far from unimportant, it is something to do, other than working, studying or idling. And, although this post turned into what seems like a rather off-topic essay (and has perhaps added to the shame I feel at not keeping a blog), I'd like to think that, while the opinions expressed here may not be particularly enlightened (or even interesting), they should, at least, be well researched.

... I think I might need to spark one up. (NO!)

menloparkbum5• 17 years ago

But the strange thing is, I didn't actually care at the time. I only decided to stop because I realised that it had become a habit.

This is how most people successfully quit. No smoker really cares about all the bad stuff while they are smoking. However, quite a few are embarrassed to be drug addicts. This is also the cognitive technique used to help people quit in the book I mentioned in my other post.

asmosoinio• 17 years ago

/...it wasn't for a Scandinavian friend of mine introducing me to Swedish 'Snus' - a moist ground oral tobacco (debatably) reckoned to be nigh-on carcinogen free./

So you are using snus now, or was that only a temporary thing?

I used that stuff for a few months quite often, then quit somewhat recently.

J_McQuade2• 17 years ago

No, I am no longer using it - for some reason it was a lot easier to kick that habit than the cigarettes, so it was a good stepping stone.

Diakronik• 17 years ago

I smoked about a pack a day from ages 17 to 30 (started out of a combination of peer pressure and curiosity). Tried half-heartedly to quit a few times (N.B. quitting for a girl typically will NOT work). I ended up quitting for good because of a minor health scare (I was lugging some heavy stuff up a LONG hill and wasn't doing such a great job oxygenating...I more or less passed out).

I didn't have a terrible time quitting. Had one cigarette about two months after at a party, and that was it. Stopped having cravings after a few more months.

Nonetheless, I MISS smoking terribly, and still identify as a smoker. Not only, or even mainly, the social aspect. My favorite smokes were usually walking down the street alone thinking about stuff, or else coding at night (yes, my room got to smelling pretty gross...a side "benefit" of smoking is that it wastes your olfaction pretty badly). I loved the ritual of taking out a smoke, digging for a light, the first deep draw & exhale.

The current vilification of smokers makes me pretty mad. I get that it affects other people, but probably not as badly as alcohol, on a widespread social level.

I've also smoked pot and hash a bunch over the years, although I quit those as well a few years ago. The paranoia, as they say, will destroy ya.

So yeah..."I'm Diakronik, and I'm a smoker."

menloparkbum5• 17 years ago

a side "benefit" of smoking is that it wastes your olfaction pretty badly

I didn't realize that lower manhattan and union square / SOMA in SF both smell like pee until after I quit smoking...

tvon2• 17 years ago

Quit ~2.5 years ago after ~15 years as a relatively heavy smoker (pack a day at least).

I'll sometimes swipe a cig towards the end of an evening of a drinking though.

niels_olson7• 17 years ago

good job.

grandalf• 17 years ago

Smoking involves taking a break from your routine, stretching, deep breathing, and watching wisps of smoke float delicately into the air.

One can get the same benefit with a bit of yoga and a conscious effort to do breathing exercises throughout the day. I think many smokers mistakenly credit some of the good feelings they get to the smoke rather than the breathing.

Om.

chanux3• 17 years ago

Tried it just for once when I was schooling. And I didn't find it cool.

ninjaa• 17 years ago

Basically if you are a programmer who smokes (and I was until a few weeks ago) it's easy to quit smoking. You already know how grossly inefficient and wasteful smoking is. You just have to trick your mind into instinctively realizing smoking is fundamentally stupid, the same instinct that kicks in when you see a code segment that goes "if (x = y) { ...".

Instead of trying to control the craving or stop thinking about cigarettes, you have your brain evaluate the "should I smoke right now?" question with the answer _no_. Once I did that, I found quitting smoking surprisingly easy. I still think about it quite a bit, but so far I haven't strayed from the correct answer even a little bit.

Regular exercise right at the beginning will help you ride out the initial physical cravings. Within a week your lungs feel much better and you're way more alert etc etc so the virtuous loop is in place and that's where I am and so far it feels pretty good.

glompix• 17 years ago

Nicotine is great for coding. I used to smoke, but now use Swedish snus instead. I get all the benefits I did with smoking, but with very little detriment.

reuel2• 17 years ago

i smoke rollies here in australia. decks/packs are overpriced and the way a hand rolled cigarette smokes is just way better! +1 for the rollie crew (if were out there..)

cosmo72• 17 years ago

I've given up smoking several times, the last time, successfully, about 3 years ago. The previous attempt was pretty much doomed - it was mid-August 2001 and I was living in lower Manhattan.

The thing that is most difficult about nicotine is that it is intimately connected with the way your brain processes novelty. If you're a smoker and you're learning (say) a new language or API, your body automatically makes you light cigarettes and smoke them; you only become aware that you have been smoking when you're stubbing them out.

nailer2• 17 years ago

I enjoy tobacco, and drink alcohol and caffeine. I have about 30 cigarettes or cigars a year, and about 40-500 shots of espresso. I'm not sure about the wine / ale.

I do all these things because I enjoy the flavors and sensations of them. It seems even on HN people can't quite grasp the idea of enjoying good tobacco but not being addicted to cigarettes.

I also think the caffeine is probably doing me more damage than the cigarettes. I also find it harder to not have coffee.

mistermann3• 17 years ago

I wish it wasn't so hard to quit. When I try, I feel like I've lost a friend.

Poll: Do you smoke?

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