You have a very solid point there, I've never even considered it this way
The Struggle Continues
- Thread starter Chef Guest
- Start date
Agree with you 100% @JakesSA! The reality is that people tend to broadly apply what they think they know to what they see and experience, in order to rationalise it. This subconscious "boxing" of things is a learned behaviour that is tied directly to the society we live in, the media we are presented with, and they way in which people are taught to perceive the world around them.
For example, when I first moved to SA people kept referring to me as coloured. I immediately took offense as my upbringing had taught me that the term coloured was derogatory. I was only a boy at this time but suffice it to say this confused and upset me greatly. In fact the colour of my skin had never even mattered before coming here! I soon learned that the South African use of the word was not derogatory at all, but rather the name of a very specific and unique racial group with its own heritage and culture. So when i learned this then I would explain to people that I wasn't coloured as they understood it. The rebuttal to that was automatically "what race are your parents?" One Black and the other White, I would answer. "That makes you coloured then" was the response.
It's just an example from my life, but it highlights to me the fact that people will always label things in a way that makes them comfortable and easier to understand. Am I coloured? No. Does it matter to me anymore? Not really. Because the only thing that I care to be identified as now is a human being. The point here is that things can be unlearned and behaviors changed if the right tools and methods of behavioral reinforcement are applied.
There's no doubt that second hand smoke is bad for you. It's smoke. First or second hand it makes no difference. The argument is that as smokers we chose to do the damage to ourselves. Protecting the non smoker makes perfect sense. The whole process that you mentioned was educational and ultimately beneficial to non smokers. The fact that as a result it created a significant amount of fear and ostracism is an unfortunate byproduct of that process, but perhaps also a necessary one.
If we want people to look at vaping as being something quite separate and independent of smoking, then people need to be educated about what it really is, and how beneficial it had been to those of us who have changed over. And lobbying for rights will only be effective if there are indeed facts to back up the claims that vaping is harmless. In order to break the stigma, I believe that the approach has to be both different and appealing enough to get people's interest. It works for smokers because most of us want or wanted to quit anyway but like with most things we wanted to have our cake and eat it. In that sense vaping as an industry is very clever. The addiction isn't broken, just the method of delivery. But I can tell you as someone with experience in these things, that 80% of addiction is psychological and 20% physical. So then why do I still vape with nic? Because my body will tell me when I've had enough and end up doing a @Silver on my living room floor!
I was giving it some thought earlier and considered the possibility that if the tobacco industry dies away as a result of vaping, then what happens to vaping? What we do exists only because we are the target market. Smokers who don't want to smoke but who also don't want to kick the habit. Will young people pick up ecigs instead of cigarettes? I don't know. Do we discourage them from doing it? Of course! But why? Why do we tell young people who want to vape to rather leave it alone? Probably because we know what it was that led us to vaping in the first place. But the fact remains that we are a niche market of smokers comprising of the privileged few who know about and have access to the best that vaping has to offer.
In order to change peoples perceptions about vaping, I believe there has to be an end game. A reason for doing all of this. Maybe a tobacco free world? Which may lead to a vaping free world... If there aren't any smokers left does vaping still have a place in our society? I'm asking myself these questions as I type and know I don't have the answers, but it's something I'd definitely like to explore further and try to understand better.
P.S. So glad there's a fellow Dune fan on the forum!
Sent from the Dark Side of The Force
For example, when I first moved to SA people kept referring to me as coloured. I immediately took offense as my upbringing had taught me that the term coloured was derogatory. I was only a boy at this time but suffice it to say this confused and upset me greatly. In fact the colour of my skin had never even mattered before coming here! I soon learned that the South African use of the word was not derogatory at all, but rather the name of a very specific and unique racial group with its own heritage and culture. So when i learned this then I would explain to people that I wasn't coloured as they understood it. The rebuttal to that was automatically "what race are your parents?" One Black and the other White, I would answer. "That makes you coloured then" was the response.
It's just an example from my life, but it highlights to me the fact that people will always label things in a way that makes them comfortable and easier to understand. Am I coloured? No. Does it matter to me anymore? Not really. Because the only thing that I care to be identified as now is a human being. The point here is that things can be unlearned and behaviors changed if the right tools and methods of behavioral reinforcement are applied.
There's no doubt that second hand smoke is bad for you. It's smoke. First or second hand it makes no difference. The argument is that as smokers we chose to do the damage to ourselves. Protecting the non smoker makes perfect sense. The whole process that you mentioned was educational and ultimately beneficial to non smokers. The fact that as a result it created a significant amount of fear and ostracism is an unfortunate byproduct of that process, but perhaps also a necessary one.
If we want people to look at vaping as being something quite separate and independent of smoking, then people need to be educated about what it really is, and how beneficial it had been to those of us who have changed over. And lobbying for rights will only be effective if there are indeed facts to back up the claims that vaping is harmless. In order to break the stigma, I believe that the approach has to be both different and appealing enough to get people's interest. It works for smokers because most of us want or wanted to quit anyway but like with most things we wanted to have our cake and eat it. In that sense vaping as an industry is very clever. The addiction isn't broken, just the method of delivery. But I can tell you as someone with experience in these things, that 80% of addiction is psychological and 20% physical. So then why do I still vape with nic? Because my body will tell me when I've had enough and end up doing a @Silver on my living room floor!
I was giving it some thought earlier and considered the possibility that if the tobacco industry dies away as a result of vaping, then what happens to vaping? What we do exists only because we are the target market. Smokers who don't want to smoke but who also don't want to kick the habit. Will young people pick up ecigs instead of cigarettes? I don't know. Do we discourage them from doing it? Of course! But why? Why do we tell young people who want to vape to rather leave it alone? Probably because we know what it was that led us to vaping in the first place. But the fact remains that we are a niche market of smokers comprising of the privileged few who know about and have access to the best that vaping has to offer.
In order to change peoples perceptions about vaping, I believe there has to be an end game. A reason for doing all of this. Maybe a tobacco free world? Which may lead to a vaping free world... If there aren't any smokers left does vaping still have a place in our society? I'm asking myself these questions as I type and know I don't have the answers, but it's something I'd definitely like to explore further and try to understand better.
P.S. So glad there's a fellow Dune fan on the forum!
Sent from the Dark Side of The Force
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