Smoking

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

It seems that people here don't see the aesthetic appeal of smoking because they can't separate it from the health impacts.  That's totally valid, of course.  I don't smoke anything except the occasional cigar, and haven't returned to smoking cigarettes, because of the health issues.

Perhaps a more interesting question to ask would be: if smoking was entirely health neutral, would it seem cool and aesthetically pleasing then, or would it remain the same?

To me, I think the aesthetic quality derives partly from the smoke itself, partly from the media portrayals of smokers (esp in older movies), partly from the ritualised elements that surround it, partly from its social rebelliousness and death-drive factor, and mostly from the way it provides ways of having subtle non-verbal communication within discourse and increases the silent pauses in conversation.  In the right hands, smoking then becomes a social and conversational tool.

I can't think of anything that replaces smoking in those aspects - chewing gum, for example, doesn't have the same social uses or aesthetic quality, imho.

I'd like to find a healthy alternative.

I don’t see smoking as aesthetically appealing at all. All health aspects aside, the act of smoking looks idiotic - people look better when they aren’t wreathed in smoke. As The Sons Of The Pioneers put it:

Cigareets is a blot on the whole human race
A man is a monkey with one in his face.
That’s my definition, I tell you dear brother -
A fire on one end and a fool on the other.

As for your cigars, I’ve never smelled cigar smoke that didn’t stink worse than an Abo’s armpit.

Boru