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Comment by nelsonenzo | Hacker News Reader

"I can quit whenever I want to" is often how people justify smoking early on. What they don't tell you, is that you are never going to want to. You may think it's a terrific idea and can see all the logical benefits of quitting smoking, but none of that changes what you want.

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Years before I quit smoking, I was extremely conscious of how much I hated everything about the experience of smoking. Even the hit at the back of the throat and oral fixation (which is what I craved, not wanted).

I specifically wanted to stop for 5 years. I did not have the willpower to push through cravings. I wanted to stop smoking, I needed to have a smoke.

Addiction is not a matter of wants or desires, that's what gets you addicted. Addiction is a biological bug. A year later and I still have flashes in my subconscious of the sensation of drawing in a smoke.

This "want" nonsense trivializes what addicts go through and needs to stop, please.

definition of want: have a desire to possess or do (something); wish for. definition of crave: feel a powerful desire for (something).

These really aren't all that different of words.

Imho, you recognized how distasteful smoking was to yourself and others, you thought it would be a good idea to quite - but as you said, you "craved" or as I said "wanted", another smoke at all times. Need? Smoking was never needed, that's a complete misnomer.

I am 3 days clean from a 10 year habit, so I guess I could ask you not to trivialize my experience please.

No, its just that by the time you want to you are addicted. Had plenty of friends addicted to gaming and smoking, you can guess which group dropped the addiction in way higher numbers...

Or, that the concept of 'wanting' is an abstraction, and the implementation details become reallly important as nicotine reshapes the landscape of your brain.

It's almost like we're only half conscious.

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