[ Post a Response | The Sublime Desire of Cigarette Smoking ]
Posted by vesperae Because it is relatively rather difficult to start smoking, and to smoke publicly is to state that a smoker has worked to overcome her or his innate self-preservation reflexes to become one. Why is it relatively rather difficult to start smoking? Because cigarette smoke is toxic. And as I’ve said before, I believe that we recognize the toxicity of cigarette smoke on a “brain stem” level, and no conscious thought is required to understand this basic fact; consider every child’s first reaction to cigarette smoke early in life. I believe that an adolescent with even a fairly below average level of intelligence understands completely that cigarette smoke is toxic. Many probably don’t consciously think through all of their motivations to embrace Risk and Danger, but that doesn’t mean that they aren’t there on a preconscious or an unrecognized subconscious level. Even if a new smoker is only concerned about overcoming these physical reactions so that she or he can be accepted as a smoker in social situations, I believe that virtually every smoker doesn't ever forget those first few cigarettes and how her or his body reacted to being subjected to them. A new smoker might suppress or rationalize those memories, but I believe that they never completely go away, and that those memories also frame the sense of accomplishment that goes along with being able to smoke without those physiological reactions. First impressions are lasting impressions, and are consistent with all of the public health warnings against and negative social reactions against smoking. Again, this doesn't mean that your average new adolescent smoker is going to instantly consciously recognize the appeal of flirting with Risk and Danger, but all of the information and experience is there to plant the seeds of that understanding. And I believe that with rare exception, those who really do enjoy smoking experience some attraction to the idea that to smoke is to deliberately invite something that she or he knows without question is ultimately self-destructive. Again, I believe that most young smokers probably do not consciously reflect at length on the implications of their behavior, but the denial implied in the belief that they will be able to quit before “anything really bad happens” belies the fact that they are aware on some level that they are taking some serious Risks for as long as they continue to smoke. And as I've suggested over and over again, I believe that a subconscious awareness of something can be just as, if not more, influential on our motivations and behavior than our conscious thoughts can be. The thing that you have to keep in mind is the concept of the relative scale of the awareness, and how this translates into our feelings and attitudes toward smoking. A deep and persistent conscious awareness is bound to result in being strongly AS, strongly committed to remaining a NS, or having a SF based on DS ideation. And in some cases, a combination of two or all three of these, as seems to be the case with you. But it would stand to reason that a smaller scale, more “mainstream” conscious and/or subconscious awareness of the Risks and Dangers of smoking would result in similar motivations and feelings, albeit to a lesser degree. And the theory that I subscribe to is that the lesser degree condition of having a SF based on DS ideation is having a “Sublime” attraction to smoking that makes it much more psychologically pleasurable and psychologically addictive than it would be if smoking weren’t so obviously Risky and Dangerous. And I believe that the vast and overwhelming majority of smokers understand this, even if only on an unspoken and/or subconscious level. Cigarette smoking is unlike any other sensual and psychological pleasure that a human being can experience. It is singular and absolutely unique, so it would stand to reason that our individual personal reactions to it are bound to also be singular and absolutely unique, and difficult to translate in comparisons with other Risk taking behaviors. Cheers, * * * * *vesperae
on April 5, 2007, 12:30 am, in reply to "Re: A Few Hypotheses"
Hey Pete, 
”I agree up to a point but bare in mind when most smokers start in their late teens there are many motivations ´badness´ certainly, image, curiosity, trying to appear more adult, peer pressure, rebelisness, perceived sophistication etc. But risk and danger? I´m not so sure?”
Why is smoking “bad”? “Image changing”? A “curiosity”? “Adult”? Indicative of a defined social group? “Rebellious”? “Sophisticated”?
”At that point there is no risk or danger. At that stage they really wont come to any harm.”
Coughing? Dizziness? Nausea?
”The risk and danger will only come much, much further down the line. Most at this stage cant really envision themselves in their thirties or forties when of course the risk and dangers start to become much more relevant after years of continued consumption and they certainly cant envision themselves with any smoking related disease.”
I disagree.
”I think this has even been addressed in anti campaigns. Where they have now changed tact, rather than showing graphically what might happen in what for them is some íntangible distant ´ future´ they now concentrate on issues much more ´relevant´ and ´now´ such as smell, bad breath and undermining the ´coolness´ factor in the peer group.”
This is an appeal to the most easily recognized conscious thinking about smoking that most adolescents share, but it in no way addresses all of the deeper psychological complexities of smoking, nor does it address all of the complex attractions to doing it. I tend to believe that these types of AS messages are more effective on the uninitiated than they are on current smokers.
”Where is the risk and danger in the mind of an average seventeen year old smoker? Also take into account many think they will have quit before they even reach their thirties then surely in their minds where is the danger, risk, edge? Can that really be taken as a motivation for starting and continuing to smoke?”
See above.
”Could it be your applying YOUR mindset to the general smoking population?”
Absolutely, as well as the similar theories of other vocal members of the DS SF Community, including Raucher, and Matt Landry.
“In this community we all do it. I’m guilty myself.”
I think that the fact that you don’t smoke makes it difficult to know just how complex and superficially paradoxical a smoker’s thinking and feelings about smoking can be. And again, I think that smokers rarely share their truest and most honest thoughts about smoking with anyone, let alone a nonsmoker who has never smoked.
”Surely those starting down the path looking for danger, risk, excitement could find much stronger outlets. Could it be that that with smoking they are not looking for those elements at all? At least not in a cigarette?”
What other activity could anyone, of virtually any level of physical prowess and extroversion, do that would allow them to experience a fleeting little flirtation with Risk and Danger dozens of times a day, on their own schedule, and in a variety of locations and situations? What else is as portable, as physically intimate, as relatively inexpensive, and has such a deep, but relatively acceptable level of Taboo attached to it?
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