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by 6502nerdface 3514 days ago
People vary in what gives them pleasure and in their valuation of the time/pleasure trade-off. Cigarettes are a tool for some people to move pleasure from the future to the present (i.e., shorter life/less future pleasure in exchange for more pleasure now); they adress intertemporal pleasure-flow needs for some, much as loans address intertemporal cashflow.
2 comments

One of the best explanations I have ever heard, for why someone might choose to smoke.
I absolutely loved this explanation.