> I was their age myself Gotcha. It’s hard to reason about in that case and I agree it’s really frustrating when you’re in the same peer group. As much as I s

> I was their age myself Gotcha. It’s hard to reason about in that case and I agree it’s really frustrating when you’re in the same peer group. As much as I struggle to understand why someone would fall for something as obviously bad as smoking, I have ADHD and routinely have to explain why things that are easy for others are hard for me. We all have strengths and weaknesses. One of the only universal weaknesses is that we are all bad at understanding what is hard for others. I teach 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders. Executive function is a skill. Some people are better at it than others. I think the ULTRA hard thing to realize about other people is that they’re not like us. Even when we are comparing a peer group. What is easy for you and me might be hard for others. The inverse is true as well. Empathy is hard. When it comes to smoking, I think of it like cult indoctrination. It doesn’t work on everyone, but it REALLY works on the people who are susceptible to it, and intelligence unfortunately has very little to do with it.