[baumbart]

I would never want to become a business partner with someone who is smoking cigarettes. Why? For me it indicates a lack of intelligence, not being good at dealing with stress and bad long-term thinking. When smoking cigarettes you are paying twice - first when spending money in order to ruin your health, and many years later when you are spending money on health-care in order to fix your ruined health. The Greeks have understood this.

Also, when you are getting closer to an emergency situation than we are normally today, you will also start caring more about your health automatically. That's what evolution has taught us, it is natural behavior. Modern luxury has let us care less about our bodies than we should.

[Rebelgecko]

Do you feel the same way about having a business partner that drinks alcohol or is overweight?

[matwood]

> that drinks alcohol

I haven't really thought about whether I would be a business partner with someone, but in this case quantity certainly matters. When people say smoker, it is implied someone who smokes often and constantly throughout the day - 24/7. The equivalent drinker would be an alcoholic, not just someone who has a beer on Friday.

[rubber_duck]

1) "social smoking" is a thing just like social drinking

2) alcoholism has much worse direct consequences than heavy smoking

[seanmcdirmid]

I used to smoke, and it was around 4 a day. Hardly all day, but I was still considered a smoker.

[dyim]

In a judgment free way - my dad's long-term business partner was overweight. Died super young, in his mid-60s. It was heartbreaking for everyone involved, and I would not wish it upon anyone. Please take good care of yourself.

[baumbart]

That's a good question. Interestingly not! For one part I think that drinking (modest) amounts of alcohol is not as bad for your health as smoking. I would avoid people who love binge-drinking though, for the same reasons as above. Also it is much harder to find non-alcoholics than people who don't smoke, I would think.

Being overweight is a different card, because it's a symptom, not an action that is chosen voluntarily. There can be many reasons for being overweight... maybe genes, some kind of illness etc.. I can't judge based on something I don't exactly know. But then again ... when I see someone eating lots of fast-food, chips and drinking Cola ... I would probably hesitate to ask him to become my business partner.

[connorelsea]

This is all seemingly a very superficial and judgmental process you've described for selecting a business partner. I'd probably want to know more about their work experience and skills - not so much their taste in cola or cigarettes.

[dpc59]

You would miss out on guys like warren buffet with that kind of reasoning.

[chimen]

I find your arguments a bit shallow. I know extraordinary people who like to smoke. How can you say a smoker has a "lack of intelligence" and what makes you think people smoke from stress? I smoke from 16 to 35 and I never did it because of stress (yes I smoked when stressed too) - for me it was that calmness it gave. I could concentrate more than I can now as a non-smoker - I could go deeper and stay there for bigger amounts of time.

[Ascetik]

Quite a lot of these arguments against smoking are silly. In moderation, smoking is fine and studies have shown that it increases cognitive ability and lowers stress. Some of the best engineer's I've ever known in my career smoked cigarettes. I don't personally smoke them, but I used to. I use nasal snuff and smoke a pipe now, which is significantly different than cigarettes. However; the social stigma against cigarettes is crazy. It doesn't bother me as long as I'm not trapped in a room with no ventilation with a cig smoker. Sugar is probably worse for you than cigarettes, but like anything it should be moderated. Cigarettes are specifically engineered to get you hooked.

[DoreenMichele]

Some smokers are self medicating for mental health issues:

https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/campaign/tips/diseases/depressio...

Before you say that is also justification for rejecting them, be aware that some folks on HN are vocal about the need to destigmatize mental health issues generally and plenty of very successful people have mental health issues.

[jakobegger]

Good luck finding a business partner, then! In my experience you don’t often run into worthwhile potential business partners, and you‘ve just excluded 20% of them on a whim!

[nvus]

That's a bad habit you have there, I bet you thinking extends to more than just people who smoke, I would distance myself from people with this line of thinking when looking for a business partner.