<![CDATA[If you lived in a world where smoking was returning in full force—through unethical, manipulative, and probably illegal tactics tobacco use was returning to 1960s levels—would you work within the tobacco industry to make it less bad?]]>If you lived in a world where smoking was returning in full force—through unethical, manipulative, and probably illegal tactics tobacco use was returning to 1960s levels—would you work within the tobacco industry to make it less bad? "Nicotine is an excellent ADHD drug so it can help accessibility!"

Because this is exactly what people in the tech industry are starting to sound like.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/topic/a99bb0a5-97d4-4e18-9b79-22b2c77f16f5/if-you-lived-in-a-world-where-smoking-was-returning-in-full-force-through-unethical-manipulative-and-probably-illegal-tactics-tobacco-use-was-returning-to-1960s-levels-would-you-work-within-the-tobacco-industry-to-make-it-less-badRSS for NodeMon, 24 Aug 2026 16:00:37 GMTWed, 12 Aug 2026 09:26:59 GMT60<![CDATA[Reply to If you lived in a world where smoking was returning in full force—through unethical, manipulative, and probably illegal tactics tobacco use was returning to 1960s levels—would you work within the tobacco industry to make it less bad? on Thu, 13 Aug 2026 04:46:19 GMT]]>@huntingdon @baldur Oh I'm pretty sure the execs know what they are doing

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/ap/users/116819078056944643/statuses/117086380332326812https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/ap/users/116819078056944643/statuses/117086380332326812Thu, 13 Aug 2026 04:46:19 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to If you lived in a world where smoking was returning in full force—through unethical, manipulative, and probably illegal tactics tobacco use was returning to 1960s levels—would you work within the tobacco industry to make it less bad? on Thu, 13 Aug 2026 03:03:31 GMT]]>@lnsy_dev @baldur

LOL. Palantir.

Not that its execs would realize it, but by stocking its offices with nicotine pouches, they are resurrecting the products that fueled the original Industrial Revolution: caffeine, nicotine, and sugar.

Coffee and tea, tobacco, and sugar, produced by slaves, were the food substitutes that fed industrial workers in their dark, Satanic mills. All that's missing is weak porridge and break with a little bacon fat or occasionally butter.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mstdn.social/users/huntingdon/statuses/117085976133218271https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mstdn.social/users/huntingdon/statuses/117085976133218271Thu, 13 Aug 2026 03:03:31 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to If you lived in a world where smoking was returning in full force—through unethical, manipulative, and probably illegal tactics tobacco use was returning to 1960s levels—would you work within the tobacco industry to make it less bad? on Thu, 13 Aug 2026 02:46:11 GMT]]>@lnsy_dev @baldur shot and chaser, holy Hannah

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://raphus.social/ap/users/116366479330331657/statuses/117085907952974825https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://raphus.social/ap/users/116366479330331657/statuses/117085907952974825Thu, 13 Aug 2026 02:46:11 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to If you lived in a world where smoking was returning in full force—through unethical, manipulative, and probably illegal tactics tobacco use was returning to 1960s levels—would you work within the tobacco industry to make it less bad? on Thu, 13 Aug 2026 00:54:36 GMT]]>@baldur this is what I've been thinking about my own industry (marketing). It will take a while to get into the new career I'm aiming for, but working on it!

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/ap/users/116721590616563213/statuses/117085469165449656https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/ap/users/116721590616563213/statuses/117085469165449656Thu, 13 Aug 2026 00:54:36 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to If you lived in a world where smoking was returning in full force—through unethical, manipulative, and probably illegal tactics tobacco use was returning to 1960s levels—would you work within the tobacco industry to make it less bad? on Wed, 12 Aug 2026 20:30:31 GMT]]>@H4Heights @baldur https://www.amazon.com/Blitzed-Drugs-Third-Norman-Ohler/dp/1328663795

A lot "ADD" diagnosese are just speed freaks going to croakers in the US. Of course, if you point this out...

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/ap/users/116819078056944643/statuses/117084430733219585https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/ap/users/116819078056944643/statuses/117084430733219585Wed, 12 Aug 2026 20:30:31 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to If you lived in a world where smoking was returning in full force—through unethical, manipulative, and probably illegal tactics tobacco use was returning to 1960s levels—would you work within the tobacco industry to make it less bad? on Wed, 12 Aug 2026 20:27:36 GMT]]>@lnsy_dev @baldur Years ago, I heard first hand accounts of cocaine being passed around the boardroom. What goes around…

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mstdn.social/users/H4Heights/statuses/117084419283272816https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mstdn.social/users/H4Heights/statuses/117084419283272816Wed, 12 Aug 2026 20:27:36 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to If you lived in a world where smoking was returning in full force—through unethical, manipulative, and probably illegal tactics tobacco use was returning to 1960s levels—would you work within the tobacco industry to make it less bad? on Wed, 12 Aug 2026 18:21:02 GMT]]>@baldur It's really funny how people will happily work to make the world worse at big tech for years on end then suddenly grow a conscience and quit the moment their equity fully vests]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://stereophonic.space/objects/256f36a0-5567-44a1-8b89-669fa2dde552https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://stereophonic.space/objects/256f36a0-5567-44a1-8b89-669fa2dde552Wed, 12 Aug 2026 18:21:02 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to If you lived in a world where smoking was returning in full force—through unethical, manipulative, and probably illegal tactics tobacco use was returning to 1960s levels—would you work within the tobacco industry to make it less bad? on Wed, 12 Aug 2026 18:06:23 GMT]]>@baldur …well…smoking is making a strong comeback…an insanely strong one. Via weed (there are dispensaries all over) and vaping (where they wildly outnumber liquor stores). Add in all the edibles/smokeless…and cigars moving upscale…
Smoking never left…tobacco left. Like with tech it just switched vice. Gambling went tech too. Sex. None of those people went anywhere. They just adjusted. Exactly like the Techbros…

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/ministerofimpediments/statuses/117083863993998014https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/ministerofimpediments/statuses/117083863993998014Wed, 12 Aug 2026 18:06:23 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to If you lived in a world where smoking was returning in full force—through unethical, manipulative, and probably illegal tactics tobacco use was returning to 1960s levels—would you work within the tobacco industry to make it less bad? on Wed, 12 Aug 2026 18:02:10 GMT]]>@alda @baldur yeah, cigarettes are still falling off but vapes are everywhere now, mostly disposable shit that creates mountains of e-waste

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://catcatnya.com/users/elexia/statuses/117083847453109643https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://catcatnya.com/users/elexia/statuses/117083847453109643Wed, 12 Aug 2026 18:02:10 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to If you lived in a world where smoking was returning in full force—through unethical, manipulative, and probably illegal tactics tobacco use was returning to 1960s levels—would you work within the tobacco industry to make it less bad? on Wed, 12 Aug 2026 17:09:19 GMT]]>@baldur "I can only relax with a cig in my hand. 🚬 Stop disciminate me. 🚬 I neeeeeedddd nikotineeeee. 🚬" - Some smokers probably.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/canleaf/statuses/117083639599304649https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/canleaf/statuses/117083639599304649Wed, 12 Aug 2026 17:09:19 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to If you lived in a world where smoking was returning in full force—through unethical, manipulative, and probably illegal tactics tobacco use was returning to 1960s levels—would you work within the tobacco industry to make it less bad? on Wed, 12 Aug 2026 16:57:39 GMT]]>@baldur
I don't know if you're talking about ai dependence or the very real problem of tech companies pushing dip/snoose on their employees

https://www.wired.com/story/tech-bros-are-all-in-on-zyn/

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.eternalaugust.com/users/pencilears/statuses/117083593741986918https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.eternalaugust.com/users/pencilears/statuses/117083593741986918Wed, 12 Aug 2026 16:57:39 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to If you lived in a world where smoking was returning in full force—through unethical, manipulative, and probably illegal tactics tobacco use was returning to 1960s levels—would you work within the tobacco industry to make it less bad? on Wed, 12 Aug 2026 15:58:39 GMT]]>@baldur I don't want to, unfortunately i have a mortgage to pay and in my defence the industry pivoted to cancer sticks after I'd reached a senior position (too senior to easier switch career, not senior enough to change course)

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://meow.social/users/kay/statuses/117083361722802500https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://meow.social/users/kay/statuses/117083361722802500Wed, 12 Aug 2026 15:58:39 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to If you lived in a world where smoking was returning in full force—through unethical, manipulative, and probably illegal tactics tobacco use was returning to 1960s levels—would you work within the tobacco industry to make it less bad? on Wed, 12 Aug 2026 15:12:10 GMT]]>@baldur I think the analogy is fair to a point. There’s a difference between acknowledging that a technology can have legitimate uses and using those benefits to justify an industry or system whose broader incentives may be harmful. Saying “nicotine can help people with ADHD” doesn’t erase the harm caused by deliberately expanding nicotine addiction. In the same way, pointing out the benefits of tech or AI shouldn’t become an excuse to ignore the ways the industry can manipulate people

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://truthsocial.co.in/users/Sofybears/statuses/117083178989261746https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://truthsocial.co.in/users/Sofybears/statuses/117083178989261746Wed, 12 Aug 2026 15:12:10 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to If you lived in a world where smoking was returning in full force—through unethical, manipulative, and probably illegal tactics tobacco use was returning to 1960s levels—would you work within the tobacco industry to make it less bad? on Wed, 12 Aug 2026 14:10:35 GMT]]>@albertcardona @baldur

No one expects anything reasonable from the industry. It's the random people doing unpaid shilling who are the problem.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://masto.nyc/users/gbargoud/statuses/117082936798495519https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://masto.nyc/users/gbargoud/statuses/117082936798495519Wed, 12 Aug 2026 14:10:35 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to If you lived in a world where smoking was returning in full force—through unethical, manipulative, and probably illegal tactics tobacco use was returning to 1960s levels—would you work within the tobacco industry to make it less bad? on Wed, 12 Aug 2026 14:03:42 GMT]]>@cyberquixote @baldur right

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://hachyderm.io/users/budududuroiu/statuses/117082909758544966https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://hachyderm.io/users/budududuroiu/statuses/117082909758544966Wed, 12 Aug 2026 14:03:42 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to If you lived in a world where smoking was returning in full force—through unethical, manipulative, and probably illegal tactics tobacco use was returning to 1960s levels—would you work within the tobacco industry to make it less bad? on Wed, 12 Aug 2026 13:43:00 GMT]]>@theeclecticdyslexic @baldur good point. I mean LLM Texts are often written to a specified length, which automatically lowers information density. Also, if you then use LLM to condense it back down, nobody guarantees that it's not hallucinating some shit that never was in the original bloated text.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/DJGummikuh/statuses/117082828313387986https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/DJGummikuh/statuses/117082828313387986Wed, 12 Aug 2026 13:43:00 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to If you lived in a world where smoking was returning in full force—through unethical, manipulative, and probably illegal tactics tobacco use was returning to 1960s levels—would you work within the tobacco industry to make it less bad? on Wed, 12 Aug 2026 13:40:41 GMT]]>@DJGummikuh @baldur counter point, I'm very dyslexic... I consider people's use of LLMs to be an anti-accessibility force in my life. They have proven less than useless to me so far as I find reading text cognitively taxing, unless I use the tools I've built up for reading and writing code and documentation more easily. I find LLM text doesn't have enough signal to noise ratio for me to use those tools.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mstdn.social/ap/users/115708188881910739/statuses/117082819224647355https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mstdn.social/ap/users/115708188881910739/statuses/117082819224647355Wed, 12 Aug 2026 13:40:41 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to If you lived in a world where smoking was returning in full force—through unethical, manipulative, and probably illegal tactics tobacco use was returning to 1960s levels—would you work within the tobacco industry to make it less bad? on Wed, 12 Aug 2026 13:18:16 GMT]]>@baldur It seems more like a world where concern about computer tech adoption is back to 1960's levels again.

I don't think you need the smoking analogy, it's just computers.

The computers are the danger and the addiction is often worse than smoking.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://toot.community/ap/users/116620205121171649/statuses/117082731095081509https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://toot.community/ap/users/116620205121171649/statuses/117082731095081509Wed, 12 Aug 2026 13:18:16 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to If you lived in a world where smoking was returning in full force—through unethical, manipulative, and probably illegal tactics tobacco use was returning to 1960s levels—would you work within the tobacco industry to make it less bad? on Wed, 12 Aug 2026 12:54:49 GMT]]>@baldur
Um, that's why Vaping was invented, all the nicotine, no tar, no particulates. Less bad (but not really; inhaled ethylene glycol and crushed lithium batteries on every sidewalk aren't good).

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://hachyderm.io/users/RealGene/statuses/117082638849069072https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://hachyderm.io/users/RealGene/statuses/117082638849069072Wed, 12 Aug 2026 12:54:49 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to If you lived in a world where smoking was returning in full force—through unethical, manipulative, and probably illegal tactics tobacco use was returning to 1960s levels—would you work within the tobacco industry to make it less bad? on Wed, 12 Aug 2026 12:40:56 GMT]]>@baldur Elijah Wood's cameo in I'm a Virgo: https://youtu.be/3uGHXMjImcc

"The death penalty is a horrific thing and I want to do something about it. It'll be a while until it's abolished all over. So, I'm studying to be an executioner. If I can, as an executioner, change things up a little bit, making their deaths a little less painful..."

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mas.to/users/twifkak/statuses/117082584270999267https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mas.to/users/twifkak/statuses/117082584270999267Wed, 12 Aug 2026 12:40:56 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to If you lived in a world where smoking was returning in full force—through unethical, manipulative, and probably illegal tactics tobacco use was returning to 1960s levels—would you work within the tobacco industry to make it less bad? on Wed, 12 Aug 2026 12:19:18 GMT]]>@budududuroiu @baldur

Rent seeking as we know doesn’t provide any real value to the economy. Right?

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://infosec.exchange/users/cyberquixote/statuses/117082499201645707https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://infosec.exchange/users/cyberquixote/statuses/117082499201645707Wed, 12 Aug 2026 12:19:18 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to If you lived in a world where smoking was returning in full force—through unethical, manipulative, and probably illegal tactics tobacco use was returning to 1960s levels—would you work within the tobacco industry to make it less bad? on Wed, 12 Aug 2026 12:15:52 GMT]]>@cultdev @baldur you mean like Arbeit Macht Frei? or more like get into this rail car for a ride to fresh air and warm vineyard sun picking grapes? The Nazi invasion and violent occupation of Hungary, with promises of a better life than could be had from liberation, killed nearly 500K in just a couple months.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://infosec.exchange/users/flyingpenguin/statuses/117082485729127108https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://infosec.exchange/users/flyingpenguin/statuses/117082485729127108Wed, 12 Aug 2026 12:15:52 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to If you lived in a world where smoking was returning in full force—through unethical, manipulative, and probably illegal tactics tobacco use was returning to 1960s levels—would you work within the tobacco industry to make it less bad? on Wed, 12 Aug 2026 12:02:09 GMT]]>@baldur @DJGummikuh

The whole "I'm calling you a hypocrite because every other objection I want to make shows how horrible my morals objectively are." debate tactic has been leaking out of SA/chan/stormfront boards for a while now.

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.online/users/Orb2069/statuses/117082431821327263https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.online/users/Orb2069/statuses/117082431821327263Wed, 12 Aug 2026 12:02:09 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to If you lived in a world where smoking was returning in full force—through unethical, manipulative, and probably illegal tactics tobacco use was returning to 1960s levels—would you work within the tobacco industry to make it less bad? on Wed, 12 Aug 2026 11:44:50 GMT]]>@baldur

Unbelievable indeed…

]]>https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/xs4me2/statuses/117082363695793682https://forum.fedi.dk/post/https://mastodon.social/users/xs4me2/statuses/117082363695793682Wed, 12 Aug 2026 11:44:50 GMT