有頭腦的人的選擇TheThinkingMan'sChoice

Contactismade.Nervesorderthehearttopumpfaster.Adrenalinsurgestoaction.Nervesconstrictthebloodvesselsintheextremitiesofthebody.Skintemperaturedrops.Fingersandtoesgrowcolder.Bloodpressurejump.Analcoholicoradopeaddictinthefirststagesofa"cure"?Amanbeingcatapultedintoouterspace?No!Theseeffectsstemfromsmokingjustonecigarette.

TheUnitedStatesPublicHealthServiceisissuingcontinualwarningstosmokers.Iftheyabstaincompletelyfromsmoking，theirchancesofacquiringlungcancerwillbeonein275.Theirchancesofdyingoflungcancerwillbeonein10iftheybecomeheavysmokers─twoormorepacksaday.Lungcancerisfatalin95percentofallcases.

Butinspiteofglaringevidenceandfrequentwarnings，thepublicissmokingmoreandmore.TheDepartmentofAgricultureestimatesthatthisyear'sconsumptionofcigaretteswillreach180packsperpersonfifteenyearsofageandover.Howmanycigarettesdoesthismeanperperson?─3600.

Whyissmokingsuchanimportantproblem?Becausesmokingisnotamerehabit，assomanythinkitis.No，itismoreseriousthanthat.Ahabitcanbebrokeneasilyenough，butanaddictioncannot.Smokerslapseintohelplessness!DanielSchubert，oftheUniversityofChicago，quizzed226studentsatalargeNorthwesterncollegeabouttheirsmokinghabits─whytheystarted，whatsatisfactiontheygot，andiftheywantedtostop.AccordingtoSchubert，theywantedtoquitsmoking;buttheycouldn't.

Ifoneisaddictedtocigarettes，heisdependentuponthemphysically，aswellaspsychologically.Whatisit，ifitisnotaddiction，thatmotivatesamantogooutinsub-zeroweathertobuyapackofcigarettes?Ifnecessary，hewilldrivetenmileslateatnighttofindanopendrugstore.Whatisit，ifitisnotaddiction，thatmakesamoocherofanotherwisecharmingyounggirl?

Iwastalkingtoaprofessornotlongagowhohadjustquitsmoking.Hetoldmewhatmostofyoualreadyknow─thatoncethehabitisstarted，watchout!Itisnexttoimpossibletostopsmoking.Iaskedhimhowheevermanagedtoquitwhenhehadbeensmokingoverapackadayfortenyears.Listentohisstory.

"Well，Icutdowntoone-halfpackadayforthefirstweek.

Iwastouchymostofthetime.Theslightestirritationmademynervesjangleandmyheadwanttoexplode.ThenextweekIsmokedfivecigarettesadayandhadanevenworsecaseofnerves.ThenthefollowingweekIchewedgumandsuckedonmints，candy，andpipestems.Frankly，Iwasn'tsurefromonemomenttothenextifIcouldkeepgoing.SomehowImadeit."

Manyofyouknowwhatthisprofessoristalkingabout;you，too，havetriedtobreaktheaddiction，buthavefailed.Inthefewminuteswehaveheretodaywecananalyzethemotivesattherootofoursmokingproblem.

Perhapswecanassurethosewhodonotsmoke，(andIamhappyIcanstillincludemyselfinthisgroup)，tonipinthebudtheurgesofthosewhoareabouttobeginsmoking，andtoencouragetocut-downthosewhoarealreadyconfirmedsmokers.

Let'sbeginwithgrouppressures.Weracetomaturity，togrowupallatonce.Wewantpoise，selfconfidence，andlotsoffriends;wewanttobeaccepted.

Thisneedforacceptanceremindsmeofanincidentthatoccurredinacampussororityhouseduringthe"rushingperiod"lastfall.Asororitymemberofferedarusheeacigarette.Eagertopleaseandnottoseemdifferent，thegirlblurtedoutaconfident，"Oh，yes，I'dloveone!"Theactivestruckamatch，wascalmlyextendingittowardtherusheewhentheflusteredfreshmanmettheactivehalf-waywithcigaretteinhand.Theactivewasthunderstruck.Youcanimaginehermixedemotionswhilestrivingtostifleheramusementandatthesametimetounderstandthatthepoorrusheehadneversmokedbefore.Intheexcitementofthemomentshewasonlyconcernedwithbeingaccepted.

Thenthereisthegirlwhoisseatedinagroup，notknowingwhattodowithherhands.First，sherollsandunrollsthecurlbehindherleftear;thensherummagesinherpurseforsomearticletowaveasaprop.Aninspirationflashes，andsheremembersthepackageofKentsinhercoatpocket.Whydidn'tshethinkofthembefore?Shealwaysdidthinkwomenwhosmokedlookedmature.Whataconvenientproptohavebroughtalong.Convenient?Yes，sophisticated?No.Yearsago，awomanwasthoughtsophisticatedifsheknewhowtosmoke.Menwereimpressed.Buttodaythepictureischanging，aseveryoneknowshowtosmoke─ageelevenorup.Perhapsnowthenoveltyshouldbethenonsmoker?

NowIaskyou.Isawomancharmingifshecansitwithherhandsfoldedgracefullyinherlap，orisshemorecharmingwhilefidgetingwithonecigaretteafteranother?Andyoumenspecifically─whichdoyouprefer─theladywhoneedsnopropstohavepoise，ortheladywhothinksacigarettemakeshermorealluringtoyou?Takeagoodlookatawomansometimewhensheisinhaling.Shedragshard，makesapuckeringnoisewithherlips，tossesherheadbackdrawingadeepbreath─thenbellowsthesmokeoutlikethegustfromarocketlaunching.Shemayevengosofarastoblowsmokeringsforyou.Isshedainty?Isshefeminine?

Thepowerofsuggestionisanotherstrongmotivatingfactorinourlives.Haven'tyouwatchedsomeoneyawnandsuddenlyfeltyourownmouthgapeopen.Youletthepowerofsuggestiongetthebestofyou;andbeforeyourealizedit，you，too，wereyawning.Now，couldn'tthissamepowerinduceyoutosmoke?Whynot，especiallythroughthemediumofadvertising.

Iamremindedofa"MostlyMalarky"cartoonthatIrecentlyclippedoutoftheChicagoTribune.Malarkystrolledintoadrugstore.Standingbeforethecounter，hescratchedhisheadinsilence.Finally，hemutteredtotheclerk，"Iwantthethinkingman'scigarette，butIcan'tseemtothinkofthename."PoorMalarky.HeonlywantedapackageofViceroyasthe"thinkingman'scigarette."Afterall，ifheisathinkingman，ashethinksheis，heshould，byallmeans，smokehisownbrand.

Advertisersarefurthertoyingwithmen'segosbyappealingtotheirhiddendesirestobeenergetic，vigorous，andpotent.Marlboro，withitshairy-chestedmalesmoker，hassetthepace.Thecigaretteismadetoprojecttheimageofarugged，rough-and-readyguy.Doesn'tthisexplainwhymanycigaretteadsdisplaygreatflexingofmasculinemuscles?

Thewoman，too，isavictimofadvertising.Voguecigarettescatchhereye.Why?Becausetheycomeinpastels.Howperfectlyexcitingforthefemaleworld!Justthink!Shecannowbuycigarettestomatchherwardrobe;andwhat'smore，shecanpurchasematchingcigarettecasesandlightersinanycoloroftherainbow，withjewelsorwithout.

Yes，wearefrequentlyvictimsofsuggestivedevices.Dr.ErnestDichtter，headoftheInstituteforMotivationalResearch，hasconductedaseriesofstudiesforadagenciesonthesubjectofsmoking.Hestates，"Peoplesmoke，notbecauseofthetasteofcigarettes，butbecausesmokingprovidesthemwithcertainpsychologicalsatisfactionstheycangetinnootherway."Headdsthatcigarettesareinvolvedinaman'sstruggleforsurvival，stability，andsecurity.IamafraidIcannotagreewithDr.Dichter，forIbelievethatamancansurviveandcanfindsecuritywithoutcigarettes.Heneedsfood，heneedsshelter，heneedsloveandcompanionship;butcan'thesatisfytheseneedsinwaysotherthansmoking?

Rationalizationmakesastrongimpactonourlives.Arewecultivatingrationalizationsasanexcusetosmoke?Iamafraidweare.Nodoubt50percentofusherehaveusedasanexcusetocontinuesmoking，thisverycommonremark，"IfIeverstoppedsmoking，Iwouldgaintenpounds."Perhaps!Acigaretteat4p.m.doesnotcontainthecaloriesthatamilkshakedoes.Butthehealthywaytoloseexcesspoundsistoeattherightkindandtherightamountoffood.

Weagainrationalizewhenwebuyfiltertipcigarettes.Weassureourselvesthatthefilterreducesanydanger，butaccordingtotheJuly，1957editionofReader'sDigest，"Thetarandnicotinereductionpossiblethroughafilterrangesfrom7to17percent.Thesepercentagesaretoosmalltobereallyprotective."Withaperfectfilternosmokecouldseepthrough─justhotair.Somanypeoplebelievethatfiltersarethesolutionthatfiltertipswillaccountforabouthalfofthisyear'soutput.Can'tweadmitthatwearebeingdupedtoformahabitthatisdetrimentaltomankind─ahabitthatleadstoaddiction?

Soyoubegintowonderifmaybeyoushouldquitsmoking─that，afterall，youareanindividual.Whatwouldhappentoyoutomorrowifsomeconclusiveproofshouldsuddenlycomeforth─proofthatcigarettesareaone-waytickettodeath?Whatwouldyoudo?Whodonotsmoke，you'veseenwhyothersstartthehabitandtheriskstheyaretaking.Beonyourguard.You，whohavetheurgetostartsmoking─youareperchedonafenceandcanjumptoeitherside.Whichwillyouchoose?Andyou，whoarealreadyconfirmedsmokers，arenowconfrontedwiththehardestquestionofall.Ifyouwantedtostopsmoking，"Couldyou?Couldyoubreaktheaddiction?"

JeanNicot，theFrenchmanwhogavehisnametonicotine，believedthathehaddiscoveredamiracledrug.Todaywetrytofilteroutnicotinebecauseofitsharmfulnature.ThemodernJeanNicotsbelievethatsmokingmakesthewomanmoreattractive，moredesirable─themanmoremasculine，moreindependent.

Wesaywearethinkingmen!Well，arewethinking?Cigarette，anyone?

到位了。神經(jīng)命令心臟跳動(dòng)加快。腎上腺激素開(kāi)始涌動(dòng)。神經(jīng)促使人手腳處的血管開(kāi)始收縮。皮膚的溫度下降了，手指、腳趾漸漸變涼，血壓升高了。這些癥狀是不是發(fā)生在一個(gè)酒鬼或一個(gè)吸毒成癮者接受"治療"的第一階段？抑或是一個(gè)人正被彈射到外層太空？不！它們僅來(lái)自于吸了一支煙。

美國(guó)公共健康服務(wù)中心正不斷地給煙民們發(fā)出警告。他們被告知：如果他們徹底戒煙的話，他們得肺癌的可能將是1/275。如果他們成了一天吸兩包煙以上的癮君子的話，那他們死于肺癌的比例將是1/10。同時(shí)必須指出，100個(gè)肺癌患者中有95人將最終死亡。

然而，盡管這些吸煙有害健康的證據(jù)毋容置疑，并不斷向人們發(fā)出警告，但吸煙人數(shù)還在不斷增多。農(nóng)業(yè)部估計(jì)，今年的香煙消費(fèi)量將達(dá)到人均180包（15歲以上者）。這將意味著每人吸多少支？3600支。

為什么吸煙是一個(gè)如此嚴(yán)峻的問(wèn)題？因?yàn)樗皇窃S多人所認(rèn)為的只是一個(gè)習(xí)慣問(wèn)題。不，它遠(yuǎn)比習(xí)慣來(lái)得厲害。一個(gè)習(xí)慣能輕易地改變，而吸煙一旦上了癮，就難以自拔了。芝加哥大學(xué)的丹尼爾·舒爾伯格曾經(jīng)對(duì)西北一所較大的大學(xué)的226名學(xué)生就吸煙習(xí)慣問(wèn)題做過(guò)一次調(diào)查──是什么原因使他們開(kāi)始吸煙的？他們從吸煙中獲得了什么快感？他們是否有戒煙的打算？從舒爾伯格的調(diào)查結(jié)果來(lái)看，那些學(xué)生想戒煙，但是辦不到。

如果一個(gè)人吸煙上了癮，他即在生理上對(duì)香煙產(chǎn)生了依賴(lài)感。如果這不是一種癮的話，那它是什么？是什么力量能促使一個(gè)人在零度以下的惡劣天氣里出門(mén)去買(mǎi)煙？如果必要的話，他甚至?xí)谏钜归_(kāi)十英里車(chē)去尋找一個(gè)仍在營(yíng)業(yè)的雜貨店。如果那不是一種癮的話，它又會(huì)是什么？它怎么會(huì)使原先一個(gè)迷人的女孩變成一個(gè)無(wú)所事事、游手好閑的人？

不久前，我和一個(gè)剛剛戒煙的教授進(jìn)行了一次談話。他告訴我你們大多數(shù)人已知道的：一旦抽上香煙，當(dāng)心！因?yàn)橐錈煄缀醪淮罂赡?。于是，我?wèn)他，他是如何養(yǎng)成了一天吸一包煙以上的習(xí)慣并持續(xù)了十年之后，能成功地戒掉了煙癮。讓我們來(lái)聽(tīng)聽(tīng)他的故事吧！

"唔，我在一開(kāi)始的第一個(gè)星期里減少了吸煙的數(shù)量，每天只抽半包。在那段時(shí)間里，我很容易發(fā)脾氣。稍有點(diǎn)不如意，就會(huì)使我極度煩躁，腦袋也像要裂開(kāi)似的。第二個(gè)星期開(kāi)始，我每天抽五支煙，那時(shí)，我的精神狀態(tài)更糟了。在接著的第三個(gè)星期里，我試著嚼口香糖和薄荷糖，當(dāng)然還有煙斗桿。坦白地說(shuō)，能不能堅(jiān)持下去，我也不能肯定?？刹恢趺吹?，我還是做到了。"

聽(tīng)了他的故事，你們中的許多人知道他在說(shuō)什么了。因?yàn)槟銈円苍?jīng)嘗試過(guò)戒煙，只是你失敗了?，F(xiàn)在，讓我們花幾分鐘來(lái)分析一下吸煙的根本動(dòng)機(jī)。

這樣說(shuō)，也許我們能夠讓那些不吸煙的人（我很高興我自己屬于這一類(lèi)），在要吸煙時(shí)就打消這個(gè)念頭，并鼓勵(lì)那些已經(jīng)上癮的煙民減少吸煙數(shù)量。

讓我們從外界壓力影響這個(gè)角度開(kāi)始分析。我們希望成熟，希望一下子能長(zhǎng)大。我們需要平衡、自信和朋友，我們更期盼被人接受。

這種希望接受的愿望使我想到了一件事。那是去年秋天，在一所大學(xué)的女生聯(lián)誼晚會(huì)里發(fā)生的事。那時(shí)，正在舉行一個(gè)爭(zhēng)取新會(huì)員的活動(dòng)。一個(gè)聯(lián)誼會(huì)成員給一位新生一支煙。這個(gè)新進(jìn)大學(xué)的女孩急切地想取悅他人，不愿做得與眾不同，于是，她自信地脫口而出："噢，好的，我很想來(lái)一支！"于是，那個(gè)遞煙的人劃了根火柴，平靜地伸出手去給她點(diǎn)煙。與此同時(shí)，這個(gè)新生慌慌張張地拿著煙迎了上去。看著她的樣子，遞煙的人震驚了。你可想像那復(fù)雜的表情。一方面，她努力抑制著自己，不讓自己笑出聲來(lái)；另一方面，她又深深地理解這個(gè)可憐的新生──她以前從未吸過(guò)煙。而這個(gè)新來(lái)的女孩在這個(gè)激動(dòng)的時(shí)刻，什么也不顧，只在意她是否被接受了。

讓我們?cè)賮?lái)看一個(gè)例子。在一堆人中，坐著一個(gè)女孩，她不知道自己的手該怎么放。一開(kāi)始，她用手反復(fù)地?fù)芘蠖蟮木戆l(fā)，接著翻弄著錢(qián)袋，想找東西握在手里，這樣可顯得自然些。突然一個(gè)念頭從她腦子里冒出來(lái)，她記起在外衣口袋里還有一包健牌煙。為什么她不早些想到它們呢？她一直認(rèn)為吸煙的女人看上去更成熟一些。拿著香煙打發(fā)雙手該有多方便??！方便？是的。老練？不！在許多年前，一個(gè)女人要是知道如何吸煙，人們會(huì)認(rèn)為她很老練，男人們也會(huì)被她吸引住的。但是現(xiàn)在，這種觀念早就不存在了，因?yàn)椋F(xiàn)在每個(gè)人都知道如何吸煙，甚至八歲的孩子也不例外。現(xiàn)在，不吸煙可能反而是件新鮮事了。

現(xiàn)在讓我來(lái)問(wèn)你，如果一個(gè)女人坐著，雙手交叉著優(yōu)雅地放在膝上，而另一個(gè)女人，雙手一支接著一支地抽著煙，哪一個(gè)更有魅力？有一個(gè)女人不需要任何物體來(lái)平衡她的手腳，另一個(gè)女人卻認(rèn)為煙能使她對(duì)男人更具誘惑力。作為一個(gè)男人，具體地說(shuō)──你喜歡哪一個(gè)？好好看看一個(gè)女人吸煙的樣子，你會(huì)看到，她狠命地吸煙，撅起雙唇發(fā)出一陣"嘶嘶"聲，接著往后一仰，把煙深深地吸了進(jìn)去然后就像火箭發(fā)射時(shí)噴出的尾氣一樣，大口地噴出煙霧。她甚至還會(huì)向你吐煙圈。這么一個(gè)女人，你能說(shuō)她俊俏，你能說(shuō)她有女人味？

在我們的生活中，暗示的力量是促使我們行動(dòng)的另一個(gè)關(guān)鍵因素。你有沒(méi)有這樣的經(jīng)歷，當(dāng)你看到別人打呵欠時(shí)，你也會(huì)不由自主地打起呵欠來(lái)？原來(lái)，這已影響了你，在你還沒(méi)意識(shí)到你將干什么之前，你已經(jīng)這么干了。那么，這種同樣的暗示力量會(huì)不會(huì)也促使你去吸煙呢？怎么不會(huì)呢？尤其是廣告媒體的影響。

我回想起最近我從《芝加哥論壇》上剪下來(lái)的一個(gè)名叫"莫斯特立·馬拉基"的卡通畫(huà)，內(nèi)容講的是馬拉基逛進(jìn)了一個(gè)雜貨店，他站在柜臺(tái)前一言不發(fā)，卻使勁地抓腦袋，最后，他向售貨員嘀咕道："我想買(mǎi)有頭腦的人吸的煙，可是我好像想不起它的名字來(lái)了。"可憐的馬拉基，他想要的僅僅是一包總督牌香煙，廣告商卻把它描繪成有頭腦的人抽的香煙。畢竟，每個(gè)人都認(rèn)為自己是一個(gè)有頭腦的人，人都是這樣認(rèn)為自己的，他無(wú)論如何應(yīng)該吸自己牌子的煙。

廣告商們不斷地玩弄男人的自我，即激發(fā)他們那種想要精力充沛，充滿活力、健康力的內(nèi)心愿望。萬(wàn)寶路，起了帶頭作用。它的煙盒上是一個(gè)長(zhǎng)滿胸毛的男子漢。于是，萬(wàn)寶路就有了一個(gè)粗獷的、豪放不羈的男