Travis’ Quora Page

[mrchibbs]

It seems hard to grasp how any intelligent person could think smoking might be healthy. Just out of curiosity I once asked Ray if, perhaps, he thinks smoking might have some health benefits. His answer was: no. He said nicotine has some good affects but inhaling smoke of any kind is extremely toxic and carcinogenic.

I could see smoking being a net positive if say, one was rolling his/her own cigarettes, and good quality tobacco without added toxic compounds, in an environment with pure air, like a house in a countryside. That could end up being very relaxing, and the toxic effects of the smoke might be compensated by the beneficial elements, nicotine and relaxing effect.

A lot of centenarians and old, healthy people, seem to be smokers and drinkers, typically it's just a little like 1 cigar a day or a pipe or a few cigarettes, along with a drink or glass of wine.

In the modern environment with already high existing indoor air pollution levels, smoking a pack of commercial probably doesn't help at all. Moreover, most of the smokers I know don't really get to relax while smoking their cigarette, they just smoke through a stressful lifestyle.

So I think context is important. I think Travis was living in a rural environment, and probably had a laidback lifestyle, so maybe smoking was beneficial for him.

 

[Ableton]

I could see smoking being a net positive if say, one was rolling his/her own cigarettes, and good quality tobacco without added toxic compounds, in an environment with pure air, like a house in a countryside. That could end up being very relaxing, and the toxic effects of the smoke might be compensated by the beneficial elements, nicotine and relaxing effect.

A lot of centenarians and old, healthy people, seem to be smokers and drinkers, typically it's just a little like 1 cigar a day or a pipe or a few cigarettes, along with a drink or glass of wine.

In the modern environment with already high existing indoor air pollution levels, smoking a pack of commercial probably doesn't help at all. Moreover, most of the smokers I know don't really get to relax while smoking their cigarette, they just smoke through a stressful lifestyle.

So I think context is important. I think Travis was living in a rural environment, and probably had a laidback lifestyle, so maybe smoking was beneficial for him.

if you live in a relaxing environment, you do not need additional relaxers. but you can probably tolerate them better. I'm all for enjoying life, I'm a party smoker myself, and I drink and do drugs a couple times a year, but I don't need to cope in thinking this does any good to my body.


Our sample consists of 157 centenarians selected among the registered residents of Rome: 39 males and 118 females (ratio = 1:3), mean age being 101.59 years (sd = 1.8). 83.8% of the centenarians have never smoked, 13.5% are former smokers, and 2.7% are active smokers. The average starting age of smoking was 21.2 years while the average age of quitting in former smokers was 65.7 years with an average of 44.7 smoking years (sd = 17.1). The average number of smoked cigarettes per day is quite low, less than 10 cigarettes. There seemed to be a significant difference (p < 0.001) in gender results in smokers: male centenarians were 46%, while female reached only 8.1%. Statistically significant higher prevalence of diseases illnesses were noted among centenarian smokers over the age of 65 (p < 0.02).

 

[mrchibbs]

Clearly you don't seem to understand where I'm coming from.

 

[cjm]

if you are smart enough, you can make a case for anything and some people on the internet will believe it if they have immersed themselves in the culture strongly enough
unfortunately, I do not live in Japan, am not Japanese, and the data where I live strongly suggests that people who smoke are more likely to get lung cancer.
Also, you know, ******* black lungs. Big no no for me. I will probably try nicotine gums soon though

The smart ones avoid making dubious arguments, like those made using "common sense" and terrifying images without context.

We can fight on another thread if you want :)

I respect your decision to not smoke.

There's obviously some kind of paradox with *some* smokers but mountains of evidence it's carcinogenic. It might be the source too. Rolling your own might be the best way if you really want to take up the habit.

No doubt. If you read through nightlight's posts on Longecity, he talks about how awful commercial cigarettes are. When you control for those variables, all the poison that isn't smoke that goes into a finished cigarette, how bad is it? Net health loss still? Okay, well, one should be free to live as one pleases, as long as you're not harming others.

 

[Ableton]

The smart ones avoid making dubious arguments, like those made using "common sense" and terrifying images without context.

We can fight on another thread if you want :)

I respect your decision to not smoke.



No doubt. If you read through nightlight's posts on Longecity, he talks about how awful commercial cigarettes are. When you control for those variables, all the poison that isn't smoke that goes into a finished cigarette, how bad is it? Net health loss still? Okay, well, one should be free to live as one pleases, as long as you're not harming others.

and I respect your decision in trusting a guy advising you to drink more green tea and eat more soy sauce to counter the negative effects of smoking

 

[ecstatichamster]

there are many studies showing smoking is healthy in some dimensions. I think moderate smoking could be good. Travis felt that inhaling ammonia was why most cigarettes were harmful, and he hand rolled low-ammonia tobacco cigarettes.

Smokers have higher testosterone and are less likely to have Parkinson's among other benefits.

Smoking may also help relax a person and that has huge benefits.

 

[ecstatichamster]

Any idea why he stopped posting on this forum a couple years ago?

Just speculation. My theory is that Travis was obsessive and it was all or nothing. He used to have a problem playing on line chess at all hours and I think he had to withdraw from the forum because it was absorbing his every waking moment and that wasn't sustainable.

 

[Ableton]

Clearly you don't seem to understand where I'm coming from.

do you understand where I am coming from when I cite a study countering your claim that "a lot of centarians" smoke?

are you aware that young adults are reading in this forum and will ******* start smoking again if no one gives them a reality check?

 

[cjm]

Moreover, most of the smokers I know don't really get to relax while smoking their cigarette, they just smoke through a stressful lifestyle.

Right, same. If they weren't smoking, what else would they be doing to curb the stress?

and I respect your decision in trusting a guy advising you to drink more green tea and eat more soy sauce to counter the negative effects of smoking

Lol, how did you know I was Japanese? You know you're talking about Travis, right?

 

[cjm]

are you aware that young adults are reading in this forum and will ******* start smoking again if no one gives them a reality check?

Fighting the good fight.

 

[aguineapig]

He has an account on Reddit and a few other forums but I have not been able to contact him. I tried through Reddit but his account there has been dormant for years. He does seem to be active on physics forums though. Maybe you can try contacting him too and have more luck than me getting a response. If you Google for "user nighlight physics" (no quotes when you search) you will find places where he posts.
LONGECITY ₮hankYou Viewing nightlight's Profile
Stuffing Your Own : Forum : Tubes : Old Forum
New Taxes Push Cigarette Prices Over $8 A Pack In New York
Smoking lowers Parkinson's disease risk - Brain Health - LONGECITY
Smoking Is Good For You – part 2
The Greatest Athletes in the World Share one thing in common: Smoking | The G Manifesto

Btw, despite his very rational behavior and solid arguments against the trolls at Longecity, I don't agree with all of his views. IMO, smoking can be carcinogenic but the net effects are probably a positive due to the pro-androgen, anti-estrogenic effects of smoking tobacco. He actually said this in one of his responses on that Longecity thread - i.e. picking up smoking as an adult is probably NOT a good idea but if you have been a smoker for more than 5 years the stress of stopping is much worse than staying a smoker. Then there is this article you might find interesting.
'Doctors don't always know best:' Student claims he cured debilitating bowel disease by taking up smoking | Daily Mail Online

Also, he seems to be a proponent of the "rate of living theory" and kept saying on various threads that we need to raise GSH and NADH, which I certainly don't agree with.

I am friends with him on Facebook and tried to get him to read some peat -- he recently quit refined sugar, for example, so I don't know how receptive he was.

I think nowadays he vapes during his indoor work week and smokes on the weekend. He's a smart guy, maybe a bit too smart for his own good, and a bit reckless.

 

[aguineapig]

The whole smoking thing is so juvenile -- we know that snus is fairly safe, and using tobacco nasally is almost completely safe. That combustion is bad is a moot point, let's pivot to the proven harm reduced methods and talk about those.

 

[aguineapig]

do you understand where I am coming from when I cite a study countering your claim that "a lot of centarians" smoke?

are you aware that young adults are reading in this forum and will ******* start smoking again if no one gives them a reality check?

The new England centenarian study found a third of those studied had a significant history of cigar pipe or smokeless tobacco use.

Stop the myopia on cigarettes everyone. That isn't where any argument or interesting data lies.

 

[R J]

About 10 years ago, somebody got engaged in a heated discussion with the trolls over at Longecity. I suspect that somebody was Travis or his karmic brother That thread used to be public but has not been hidden behind a login page. I strongly recommend reading it, the language of the posted sounds a lot like Travis...
http://www.longecity.org/forum/topic/38868-smoking-is-good-for-you/page-1

That’s an amazing thread.

 

[tankasnowgod]

is no one seeing through the cope? this dude was smoking, so he had to cope by "scientifically" justifying it to himself.
I'm not doubting nicotine has some benefits. Heck, you will probably even have some benefits from smoking the nicotine/tobacco rather than a gum.

But saying smoking is "good for you" just goes without any common sense. Ever seen a lung of a non smoker? Ever seen a lung of a smoker? Am I supposed to believe some theoretical gaba benefits are going to outweigh having a black lung?

Perceive, think, act is what I'll do instead. Just putting that picture here so people can decide for themselves if the benefits outweigh the negatives. Because pictures sometimes say more than studies.

Ever seen the lung of a smoker that smoked only tobacco, and not one that also dealt with added fire retardants and ammonia that's put into modern cigarettes? Yeah, I haven't either. That was Nightlight's argument after all. So, your propaganda picture doesn't really add much to the argument, either way.

You know, back as late as 1979, McDonalds was a pretty healthy meal for fast food. Fries fried in beef tallow, decent hamburger (bun still had some raw iron due to fortification, but less than when it spiked in the mid 80s), and soda made with real sugar.

However good or bad tobacco is, the government turned the whole "Smoking=BAD" prophecy into a self fulling one, by mandating the addition of several poisons (such as the flame retardants and ammonia mentioned above). As was done to alcohol during prohibition (when it contained a lot of industrial toxins like acetone and such), making it much more acutely toxic.

As for "common sense," there have been several examples of people in their 80s, 90s and 100s that regularly smoked. Sometimes, real life examples say more than pictures or studies.

 

[R J]

.

 

[R J]

if you are smart enough, you can make a case for anything and some people on the internet will believe it if they have immersed themselves in the culture strongly enough
unfortunately, I do not live in Japan, am not Japanese, and the data where I live strongly suggests that people who smoke are more likely to get lung cancer.
Also, you know, ******* black lungs. Big no no for me. I will probably try nicotine gums soon though

Pretty sure black lungs claim is debunked if you read that thread.
Also nightlight isn’t Travis to the best of my knowledge

 

[Tarmander]

A lot of centenarians and old, healthy people, seem to be smokers and drinkers, typically it's just a little like 1 cigar a day or a pipe or a few cigarettes, along with a drink or glass of wine.

I remember reading a thread on this forum where there was a report where they asked centenarians the key to their long life. It was amazing. It was almost an exact 50/50 split of people who said either smoking and alcohol avoidance was the key to their long life, or smoking and alcohol was why they lived so long.

 

[aguineapig]

Donor lungs from heavy smokers appear safe for transplantation

I still think it's unnecessary to use your lungs for smoking (you can absorb more than enough thru the much tougher oral mucosas) if you are going to combust, and further think it's unnecessary to combust it at all. (I take nasal snuff, use small amounts of snus, and smoke a pipe as a treat once or twice a week. ) But the whole black lung thing is pretty middle school level.

 

[tankasnowgod]

and the data where I live strongly suggests that people who smoke are more likely to get lung cancer.

True. Not just more likely, but 10 times more likely.

However...... it's also true the vast majority of smokers won't get lung cancer. In fact, 90% won't.

The stats break down so that 1% of the general population will get lung cancer, and 10% of smokers will get lung cancer.

Funny, you never hear and ad campaign that states "The vast majority of smokers, 90%, will never get lung cancer." But they'll hype that 10x figure over and over and over.