Connor Widmaier
Sept. 24th, 2023
Munich, Germany
This is a quick post about human psychology
.This weekend, I went to Octoberfest with Jeanne. We were having a great time but couldn’t find anywhere to sit. Finally, we found an open bench at an outdoor beer garden and ordered two liters of beer.
To our left, we noticed a group of four American dudes getting crowded out by a group Russian men. We invited them to sit with us and the conversation began.
First of all, before I even asked, I noticed immediately that they were all from a similar background as me. Upper middle class, East Coast, two parent home, great public high school, state school frat guy.
I called them out on it and was right on every point.
There’s something special about a shared history. It makes it easy to bond. When those opportunities come abroad they always feel more meaningful than they would at home.
But beyond that, something funny happened which is the real reason why I want to write you today.
The Man who Snorted Tobacco
One of our countrymen, Alex, was about four liters deep.
A German reached over to offer a cigarette. Alex declined:
"No thank you, I will never smoke a cigarette in my life.” (with massive conviction)
I didn't think much of it until five minutes later, when another plastered German reached over with a bag of white power and offered us to snort it.
“Come on, It iz just mintz!”
We politely declined his irresistible offer. But he countered with something new:
“Ok fine, but would you like to snort the tobacco?”
Now, he held out a bag that looked like dirt. I’d never heard of snorting tobacco and was keen to shut this creepy guy down, but our comrade Alex, who had sworn to never touch a cigarette, held out his hand, and put the dirt to his nose.
I was dumbfounded.
Five minutes before, this guy just proclaimed a cig-free life, but now he was ingesting tobacco into his nostril. And right after that, he whips out a vape from his lederhosen and starts inhaling synthetic nicotine into his bloodstream!
How can a man of above average intelligence swear against cigarettes yet rip lines of tobacco and inhale nicotine juice from an unregulated Chinese device?
I have a couple of thoughts.
1. Social Stigma
When we grew up in America, there was a very successful propaganda push against cigarettes.
I still remember the films they showed us in kindergarten. One in particular which included a chain-smoking Tin man from the Wizard of Oz, was so terror inducing I had to tell my mom after school.
So, Alex having grown up under an anti-cigs FDA was brainwashed from childhood to avoid them or risk being ostracized by his anti-cig generation.
One of the best ways to make a behavior less desirable it to place a social stigma on it.
And one of the best ways to encourage a behavior is to make it status boosting.
2. Domain dependency
This is another fascinating phenomenon.
Essentially, I've observed people will feel comfortable doing something if it fits into one specific box, but not if it fits into another box. What I mean is, Alex has likely placed "cigs" into his unacceptable box, but not "nicotine."
You also see this with some frats.
Nice, well mannered boys from upper middle class families will commit obscene acts in the domain of hazing that they would never do outside of that domain.
Or people at my gym on the fifth floor of a Munich building who take the escalator up yet walk on the treadmill.
Nothing happens in isolation, the domain influences the outcome.
3. Moral Authority / Social proof
It was a German guy who offered Alex the snorting tobacco.
Because it was a local who offered, and not another foreigner, I believe he was more likely to take part.
In new environments, we often differ to the locals (or the people who look like locals) on what to do. It can be stressful to be in a new country and not understand the traditions so often people would rather do something that they are told is right than stand out as a sore thumb.
Very dangerous dynamic.
What can you learn from this
1. Ben Franklin's Banned Substance Rule.
In Ben Franklin's Autobiography, he suggests that bad things are not bad because they are banned. They are banned because they are bad.
Read that line twice.
Youth smoking is not bad because it is banned. It’s banned because it is bad.
As we grow up and have to decide for ourselves right and wrong, it's worth considering why the things we were taught were bad were thought of as bad to begin with.
That way you can learn from tradition and choose your own way, rather than blindly accepting tradition like a robot or thinking you’re smarter than 10 generations of implied wisdom.
2. Be careful in new environments
When we go to a new country, we are more likely to make stupid decisions because of the uncertainty and discomfort.
The idiot German snorting tobacco is no smarter because he’s a local. Understand you are more likely to be influenced by the other people in stressful or novel environments and make proper precautions.
Thank you for reading.
Have you noticed a similar dynamic to this? I’d love to hear what you think. Let me know here:
Love the insight! This is a good time to define who you are, and what you stand for. Reading about Ben Franklin is wonderful because he really try to figure out the best way to live a virtuous life. It’s really important to figure out what a virtuous life is to you and try to standby those morals.