有頭腦的人的選擇

1、有頭腦的人的選擇The Thinking Man ' s ChoiceContact is made. Nerves order the heart to pump faster. Adrenalin surges to action. Nerves constrict the blood vessels in the extremities of the body. Skin temperature drops. Fingers and toes grow colder. Blood pressure jump. An alcoholic or a dope addict in th

2、e first stages of a “cure ” ? A man being catapulted into outer space? No! These effects stem from smoking just one cigarette.The United States Public Health Service is issuing continual warnings to smokers. If they abstain completely from smoking, their chances of acquiring lung cancer will be one

3、in 275. Their chances of dying of lung cancer will be one in 10 if they become heavy smokerstwo or more packs a day. Lung cancer is fatal in 95 per cent of all cases.But in spite of glaring evidence and frequentand more. Thewarnings, the public is smoking moreDepartment of Agriculture estimates that

4、 this year ' s consumption of cigarettes will reach 180 packs per person fifteen years of age and over. How many cigarettes does this mean per person?3600.Why is smoking such an important problem? Because smoking is not a mere habit, as so many think it is. No, it is more serious than that. A ha

5、bit can be broken easily enough, but an addiction cannot. Smokers lapse into helplessness! Daniel Schubert, of the University of Chicago, quizzed 226 students at a large Northwestern college about their smoking habitswhythey started, what satisfaction they got, and if they wanted to stop. According

6、to Schubert, they wanted to quit smoking; but they couldn't.If one is addicted to cigarettes, he is dependent upon them physically, as well as psychologically. What is it, if it is not addiction, that motivates a man to go out in sub-zero weather to buy a pack of cigarettes?If necessary, he will

7、 drive ten miles late at night to find an open drugstore. What is it, if it is not addiction, that makes a moocher of an otherwise charming young girl?I was talking to a professor not long ago who had just quit smoking. He told me what most of you already know that once the habit is started, watch o

8、ut! It is next to impossible to stop smoking. I asked him how he ever managed to quit when he had been smoking over a pack a day for ten years. Listen to his story.”Well, I cut down to one-half pack a day for the first week.I was touchy most of the time. The slightest irritation made my nerves jangl

9、e and my head want to explode. The next week I smoked five cigarettes a day and had an even worse case of nerves. Then the following week I chewed gum and sucked on mints, candy, and pipe stems. Frankly, I wasn 't sure from one moment to the next if I could keep going. Somehow I made it.”Many of

10、 you know what this professor is talking about; you, too, have tried to break the addiction, but have failed. In the few minutes we have here today we can analyze the motives at the root of our smoking problem.Perhaps we can assure those who do not smoke, (andI am happy I can still include myself in

11、 this group), to nip in the bud the urges of those who are about to begin smoking, and to encourage to cut-down those who are already confirmed smokers.Let ' s begin with group pressures. We race tomaturity,togrow up allat once.We want poise,selfconfidence,and lots offriends;we want to beaccepte

12、d.Thisneedfor acceptanceremindsme of an incidentthat occurred in a campus sorority house during the“rushing period ” last fall. A sorority memberoffered a rushee a cigarette. Eager to please and not to seem different, the girl blurted out a confident, “ Oh, yes, I ' d love one! ” The active stru

13、ck a match, was calmly extending it toward the rushee when the flustered freshman met the active half-way with cigarette in hand. The active was thunderstruck. You can imagine her mixed emotions while striving to stifle her amusement and at the same time to understand that the poor rushee had never

14、smoked before. In the excitement of the moment she was only concerned with being accepted.Then there is the girl who is seated in a group, not knowing what to do with her hands. First, she rolls and unrolls the curl behind her left ear; then she rummagesin her purse for somearticle to wave as a prop

15、. An inspiration flashes, and she remembers the package of Kents in her coat pocket. Why didn' t she think ofthem before? She always did thinkwomen who smokedlooked mature. What a convenient prop to have brought along. Convenient? Yes, sophisticated? No. Years ago, a woman was thought sophistica

16、ted if she knew how to smoke. Men were impressed. But today the picture ischanging, as everyone knows how to smoke age eleven or up. Perhaps now the novelty should be the nonsmoker?Now I ask you. Is a woman charming if she can sit with her hands folded gracefully in her lap, or is she more charming

17、while fidgeting with one cigarette after another? And you men specificallywhich do you preferthe lady who needs no props to have poise, or the lady who thinks a cigarette makes her more alluring to you? Take a good look at a womansometime when she is inhaling. She drags hard, makes a puckering noise

18、 with her lips, tosses her head back drawing a deep breath then bellows the smoke out like the gust from a rocket launching. She may even go so far as to blow smoke rings for you. Is she dainty? Is she feminine?The power of suggestion is another strong motivating factor in our lives. Haven't you

19、 watchedsomeone yawn and suddenly felt your own mouth gape open. You let the power of suggestion get the best of you; and before you realized it, you, too, were yawning. Now, couldn 't this same power induce you to smoke? Whynot, especially through the medium of advertising.I am reminded of a “

20、Mostly Malarky ” cartoon that I recently clipped out of the Chicago Tribune. Malarky strolled into a drugstore. Standing before the counter, he scratched his head in silence. Finally, he muttered to the clerk, “ I want the thinking man's cigarette,but I can't seem to think of the name.” Poor

21、 Malarky. He only wanted a package of Viceroy as the“ thinkingman' s cigarette. ” After all, if he is a thinking man, as he thinks he is, he should, by all means, smoke his own brand.Advertisers are further toying with men' s egos by appealing to their hidden desires to be energetic, vigorou

22、s, and potent. Marlboro, with its hairy-chested male smoker, has set the pace. The cigarette is made to project the image of a rugged, rough-and-ready guy. Doesn' t this explain why many cigarette ads display great flexing of masculine muscles?The woman, too, is a victim of advertising. Vogue ci

23、garettes catch her eye. Why? Because they come in pastels. How perfectly exciting for the female world! Just think! She can now buy cigarettes to match her wardrobe; and what ' s more, she can purchase matching cigarette cases and lighters in any color of the rainbow, with jewels or without.Yes,

24、 we are frequently victims of suggestive devices. Dr. Ernest Dichtter, head of the Institute for Motivational Research, has conducted a series of studies for ad agencies on the subject of smoking. He states, “ People smoke, not because of the taste of cigarettes, but because smoking provides them wi

25、th certain psychological satisfactions they can get in no other way. ” He adds that cigarettes are involved in a man' s struggle for survival, stability, and security. I am afraid I cannot agree with Dr. Dichter, for I believe that a man can survive and can find security without cigarettes. He n

26、eeds food, he needs shelter,he needs love and companionship; but can' t he satisfy these needs in ways other than smoking?Rationalization makes a strong impact on our lives.Are we cultivating rationalizations as an excuse to smoke? I am afraid we are. No doubt 50 per cent of us here have used as

27、 an excuse to continue smoking, this very commonremark, “ If I ever stopped smoking, I would gain ten pounds. ” Perhaps! A cigarette at does not contain the calories that a milkshake does. But the healthy way to lose excess pounds is to eat the right kind and the right amount of food.We again ration

28、alize when we buy filter tip cigarettes. Weassure ourselves that the filter reduces any danger, but according to the July, 1957 edition of Reader 's Digest, “The tar and nicotine reduction possible through a filter ranges from 7 to 17 per cent. These percentages are too small to be really protec

29、tive. ” With a perfect filter no smoke could seep through just hot air. So many people believe thatfilters are the solution that filter tips will account for about half of this year' s output. Can 't we admitthat we are being duped to form a habit that is detrimental to mankind a habit that

30、leads to addiction?So you begin to wonder if maybe you should quit smokingthat, after all, you are an individual. What would happen to you tomorrow if some conclusive proof should suddenly come forthproof that cigarettes area one-way ticket to death? What would you do? Who do not smoke, you 've

31、seen why others start the habit and the risks they are taking. Be on your guard. You, who have the urge to start smokingyou are perched on afence and can jump to either side. Which will you choose? And you, who are already confirmed smokers, are now confronted with the hardest question of all. If yo

32、u wanted to stop smoking, “Could you? Could you break the addiction? ”Jean Nicot, the Frenchman who gave his name tonicotine, believed that he had discovered a miracle drug. Today we try to filter out nicotine because ofits harmful nature. The modern Jean Nicots believe that smoking makes the womanm

33、ore attractive, more desirable the man more masculine, more independent.We say we are thinking men! Well, are we thinking? Cigarette, anyone?到位了。 神經命令心臟跳動加快。 腎上腺激素開始涌動。 神經促使人手腳處的血管開始收縮。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 個酒鬼或一個吸毒成癮者接受”治療”的第一階段？抑或 是一個人正被彈射到外層太空？不！它們僅來自于吸了一支 煙。美國公共健康服務中心正不斷地給煙民們發(fā)出警告

34、。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 。同時必須指出， 100 個肺癌 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毋容置疑，并不斷向人們發(fā)出警告，但吸煙人數還在不斷增多。農業(yè)部估計，今年的香煙消費量將達到人均180 包（ 15 歲以上者）。這將意味著每人吸多少支？ 3600 支。為什么吸煙是一個如此嚴峻的問題？因為它不是許多 人所認為的只是一個習慣問題。不，它遠比習慣來得厲害。 一個習慣能輕易地改變， 而吸煙一旦上了癮， 就難以自拔了。 芝加哥大學的丹尼爾舒爾

35、伯格曾經對西北一所較大的大學 的226名學生就吸煙習慣問題做過一次調查一一是什么原因 使他們開始吸煙的？他們從吸煙中獲得了什么快感？他們 是否有戒煙的打算？從舒爾伯格的調查結果來看，那些學生 想戒煙，但是辦不到。如果一個人吸煙上了癮，他即在生理上對香煙產生了依 賴感。如果這不是一種癮的話，那它是什么？是什么力量能 促使一個人在零度以下的惡劣天氣里出門去買煙？如果必 要的話，他甚至會在深夜開十英里車去尋找一個仍在營業(yè)的 雜貨店。如果那不是一種癮的話，它又會是什么？它怎么會 使原先一個迷人的女孩變成一個無所事事、游手好閑的人？不久前，我和一個剛剛戒煙的教授進行了一次談話。他 告訴我你們大多數人已知

36、道的：一旦抽上香煙，當心！因為 要戒煙幾乎不大可能。于是，我問他，他是如何養(yǎng)成了一天 吸一包煙以上的習慣并持續(xù)了十年之后，能成功地戒掉了煙 癮。讓我們來聽聽他的故事吧！”唔，我在一開始的第一個星期里減少了吸煙的數量， 每天只抽半包。在那段時間里，我很容易發(fā)脾氣。稍有點不 如意，就會使我極度煩躁，腦袋也像要裂開似的。第二個星 期開始，我每天抽五支煙，那時，我的精神狀態(tài)更糟了。在 接著的第三個星期里，我試著嚼口香糖和薄荷糖，當然還有 煙斗桿。坦白地說，能不能堅持下去，我也不能肯定?？刹?知怎么的，我還是做到了?！甭犃怂墓适拢銈冎械脑S多人知道他在說什么了。因 為你們也曾經嘗試過戒煙，只是你失敗了

37、?，F在，讓我們花 幾分鐘來分析一下吸煙的根本動機。這樣說，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） ，在要吸煙時就打消這個念頭，并鼓勵那 些已經上癮的煙民減少吸煙數量。讓我們從外界壓力影響這個角度開始分析。我們希望成 熟，希望一下子能長大。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，在一所大學的女生聯(lián)誼晚會里發(fā)生的事。那時，正在舉 行一個爭取新會員的活動。一個聯(lián)誼會成員給一位新生一支 煙。這個新進大學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，我很想來一 支！”于是，那個遞煙的人劃了根火

38、柴，平靜地伸出手去給 她點煙。與此同時，這個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。你可想像那復雜的表情。 一方面， 她努力抑制著自己， 不讓自己笑出聲來； 另一方面， 她又深深地理解這個可憐的新生一一她以前從未吸過煙。而 這個新來的女孩在這個激動的時刻，什么也不顧，只在意她 是否被接受了。讓我們再來看一個例子。在一堆人中，坐著一個女孩， 她不知道自己的手該怎么放。一開始，她用手反復地撥弄著 左耳后的卷發(fā)，接著翻弄著錢袋，想找東西握在手里，這樣 可顯得自然些。突然一個念頭從她腦子里冒出來，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？ 她一直認為吸煙的女人

39、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 個女人要是知道如何吸煙，人們會認為她很老練，男人們也 會被她吸引住的。 但是現在， 這種觀念早就不存在了， 因為， 現在每個人都知道如何吸煙，甚至八歲的孩子也不例外?，F 在，不吸煙可能反而是件新鮮事了。現在讓我來問你，如果一個女人坐著，雙手交叉著優(yōu)雅 地放在膝上，而另一個女人，雙手一支接著一支地抽著煙， 哪一個更有魅力？有一個女人不需要任何物體來平衡她的 手腳，另一個女人卻認為煙能使她對男人更具誘惑力。作為 一個男人，具體地說你喜歡哪一個？好好看看一個女人 吸煙的樣子， 你會看到， 她狠命地吸煙， 撅起雙唇

40、發(fā)出一陣” 嘶嘶”聲，接著往后一仰，把煙深深地吸了進去然后就像火 箭發(fā)射時噴出的尾氣一樣，大口地噴出煙霧。她甚至還會向 你吐煙圈。這么一個女人，你能說她俊俏，你能說她有女人 味？在我們的生活中，暗示的力量是促使我們行動的另一個 關鍵因素。你有沒有這樣的經歷，當你看到別人打呵欠時， 你也會不由自主地打起呵欠來？原來，這已影響了你，在你 還沒意識到你將干什么之前，你已經這么干了。那么，這種 同樣的暗示力量會不會也促使你去吸煙呢？怎么不會呢？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的一個名叫”莫斯特立馬拉基”的卡通畫，內容講的是馬拉基逛進 了一個雜貨店，他站在柜臺前一言不發(fā)，卻使勁地抓腦袋， 最后，他向售貨員嘀咕道：”我想買有頭腦的人吸的煙，可 是我好像想不起它的名字來了。”可憐的馬拉基，他想要的