The Happiness Quotient for Smoking is 70%!

[admin]

I learned something new and surprising (or not) from Fred Brown's August 2015 "Pipe Pundit" column.
The Happiness Quotient for Smoking is 70%! What's really surprising is it's the FDA that calculated that! Crazy!
Check it out -

Happy Feet from the Amen Corner

 

[mso489]

I saw the news on this when it was discovered in an FDA report a while back and was intrigued that some inquisitive soul had entered a bit of philosophy and anthropology into the usual drum of statistical calculation. Imagine that. This goes well beyond the smoking discussion to all kinds of judgements made in the public good that looks at only one narrow aspect of any given issue, to the purposes of the current popular thinking, without wading into the vast rest of the thinking on any given subject. It is likely a fluke, a wild and whimsical fluke, but we all need to pay attention and see if we can't summon similar unconventional clear-headedness into the public discourse from all sides. We can amaze ourselves every day.

 

[pappymac]

My happiness quotient when smoking my pipe is 90% - depending on the weather.

 

[aldecaker]

Yeah, I think 70% is pretty conservative myself.

 

[derfatdutchman]

Give me a pipe and a comfy chair to sit in while I quietly contemplat, and my happiness quotient is about 100%.

 

[jpmcwjr]

Hah! Perhaps the 70% is the average HQ for all pipe smokers! The ones who really enjoy it bring the average up from those who've just swallowed a gurgle or had their tongue bitten off.... So, the average on this forum is probably way over 90%.....

 

[seacaptain]

I checked my meter. Right at 96%.

 

[weezell]

Give me my pipe, a beer, and a shot when my back is killin me. It helps tame the beast that haunts me...

 

[prairiedruid]

"In plain English, the FDA estimated a smoker would lose 70 percent of his or her happiness by giving up tobacco in any of its forms. This gave the anti-smoking crowd apoplexy."
You're missing reading this......It's not that pipe smokers are 70% happy but take our pipes away and we lose 70% of our total happiness as in all life encompassing aspects.

 

[wyfbane]

I get weepy at the thought of not smoking my pipes... it's true!
:wink:

 

[prairiedruid]

30% happiness level = weepy

 

[seacaptain]

You're missing reading this......It's not that pipe smokers are 70% happy but take our pipes away and we lose 70% of our total happiness as in all life encompassing aspects.

Meh. I enjoy smoking, but it's definitely not 70% of my happiness. I don't think that's true of even the most die hard smokers among us.

 

[jpmcwjr]

To me it's pretty unclear what yardstick the FDA purports (if they even purport!) to use with that 70%.... Of what?
Measured against what? Now, take away yoghurt, and am I unhappy? Yes, but compared to what— is it 3%? Take away bacon, and I am real unhappy—maybe 20%, same with espresso beans, gelato, and the list can go on ad nauseum.
So I certainly agree with The Captain, although if called to testify at a hearing on the subject, I can get close to 50%! :!:

 

[seacaptain]

Now coffee, yeah that's going to be 70% of my happiness.