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For the people here who are thinking teens are doing this for taste, etc. Ask yourself how much more existential crises kids these days are facing. Global war

For the people here who are thinking teens are doing this for taste, etc. Ask yourself how much more existential crises kids these days are facing. Global warming is happening and the adults aren't doing anything. They're seeing their family get crushed by medical debt and the adults aren't doing anything. Not only that they're actively voting for people who support the current system. The world is fucked for these people and the adults are blaming stuff like how it tastes instead of the structural issues these kids are going through.

maverick2007 7y ago
Although I'm sure there are some teens that think that, don't you think "my friends are doing it", "it's cool" and "it's fun to blow sick clouds when the teacher isn't looking" a lot more likely than some existential crisis? I mean at least I was a lot more likely to think the former than the latter a couple of years ago when I was a teen
- ultrarunner 7y ago
  Maybe the belonging and ‘adult’ involvement in something semi-dangerous distracts them from the existential dread. I don’t know if I’d make that argument, but I do think the reasons involved are nuanced and varied.
- catalogia 7y ago
  One need look no further than the marketing material corporations like Juul are putting out. Are the ads playing up fears of climate change, or are the ads about making the product look cool? It's the later, obviously. Anybody who says otherwise is either deluded or trying to delude you.
barry-cotter 7y ago
You’ve heard of the bomb, right? From 1950 to the end of the Cold War every thinking person knew there was an excellent chance that’s they and everyone they knew could die along with the rest of civilization. Before WW2 even the richest society in world history, the US, was by modern standards fairly poor. People died of diseases we just don’t worry about now because we have antibiotics. This generation is not special. Everyone has to deal with shit.
- ultrarunner 7y ago
  And deal with shit they do. By vaping. I guess that’s the argument. Frankly, I think they do it because they’re bored and it’s an easy way to differentiate as part of an in-group, but it’s been long enough since I was a kid that I don’t recall for sure. Either way, the insistence that kids were smoking/vaping (but curiously not drinking) for the watermelon flavor always seemed dubious. But until some solid research on actual motivations becomes known in a widespread manner, the ‘solutions’ will probably remain political and lobbyist-informed.
- newnewpdro 7y ago
  > This generation is not special. Everyone has to deal with shit. Everyone has to deal with shit, but as long as the global population continues growing every subsequent generation is relatively special. I hope for the day when this trend reverses and our economies are no longer dependent on continuous growth. But until then, I'm afraid every new generation really is dealing with a tougher problem.
- foobar1962 7y ago
  > This generation is not special. Everyone has to deal with shit. When the Falklands War started in 1982, and the British warship was sunk, I seriously thought this was the start of WW3. So yeah, the shit was there too.
m463 7y ago
Your "appeal to worse problems" doesn't invalidate the taste argument. I believe "how it tastes" might be a root cause to trying it. Anecdotally I know many people who, as kids, tried their dad's or friend's cigarette or pipe, said oh-hell-no and lost interest for the rest of their childhood.
- aaomidi 7y ago
  It does though, people are looking for the simple solutions to problems. You're trying to erase a symptom of a systematic issue that kids these days literally don't have a future. Global Warming, Student Loans, Terrible Jobs.... Who on earth wouldn't be seriously depressed just thinking 5-10 years into their future?
  - m463 7y ago
    You should read the book "The Rational Optimist" by Matt Ridley. Happy Holidays.

maverick2007 7y ago

Although I'm sure there are some teens that think that, don't you think "my friends are doing it", "it's cool" and "it's fun to blow sick clouds when the teacher isn't looking" a lot more likely than some existential crisis? I mean at least I was a lot more likely to think the former than the latter a couple of years ago when I was a teen

ultrarunner 7y ago
Maybe the belonging and ‘adult’ involvement in something semi-dangerous distracts them from the existential dread. I don’t know if I’d make that argument, but I do think the reasons involved are nuanced and varied.
catalogia 7y ago
One need look no further than the marketing material corporations like Juul are putting out. Are the ads playing up fears of climate change, or are the ads about making the product look cool? It's the later, obviously. Anybody who says otherwise is either deluded or trying to delude you.

barry-cotter 7y ago

You’ve heard of the bomb, right? From 1950 to the end of the Cold War every thinking person knew there was an excellent chance that’s they and everyone they knew could die along with the rest of civilization. Before WW2 even the richest society in world history, the US, was by modern standards fairly poor. People died of diseases we just don’t worry about now because we have antibiotics. This generation is not special. Everyone has to deal with shit.

ultrarunner 7y ago
And deal with shit they do. By vaping. I guess that’s the argument. Frankly, I think they do it because they’re bored and it’s an easy way to differentiate as part of an in-group, but it’s been long enough since I was a kid that I don’t recall for sure. Either way, the insistence that kids were smoking/vaping (but curiously not drinking) for the watermelon flavor always seemed dubious. But until some solid research on actual motivations becomes known in a widespread manner, the ‘solutions’ will probably remain political and lobbyist-informed.
newnewpdro 7y ago
> This generation is not special. Everyone has to deal with shit. Everyone has to deal with shit, but as long as the global population continues growing every subsequent generation is relatively special. I hope for the day when this trend reverses and our economies are no longer dependent on continuous growth. But until then, I'm afraid every new generation really is dealing with a tougher problem.
foobar1962 7y ago
> This generation is not special. Everyone has to deal with shit. When the Falklands War started in 1982, and the British warship was sunk, I seriously thought this was the start of WW3. So yeah, the shit was there too.

m463 7y ago

Your "appeal to worse problems" doesn't invalidate the taste argument. I believe "how it tastes" might be a root cause to trying it. Anecdotally I know many people who, as kids, tried their dad's or friend's cigarette or pipe, said oh-hell-no and lost interest for the rest of their childhood.

aaomidi 7y ago
It does though, people are looking for the simple solutions to problems. You're trying to erase a symptom of a systematic issue that kids these days literally don't have a future. Global Warming, Student Loans, Terrible Jobs.... Who on earth wouldn't be seriously depressed just thinking 5-10 years into their future?
- m463 7y ago
  You should read the book "The Rational Optimist" by Matt Ridley. Happy Holidays.