this is my impression as well regarding nicotine. however, i have noticed people are not interested in examining that and continue to conflate nicotine with cigarettes (high risk) and vaping (misconstrued risk).

i also believe many view a nicotine addiction through a sort of moral lens they don’t apply so readily to caffeine.

there is no inherent meaning to life.

i choose to continue living each day because a) i am still enjoying myself enough to stick around, b) i’m a chicken and nothing has motivated me to voluntarily face quicker death just yet, c) i am committed to not fucking up my kids in that particular way if i can continue to avoid it, and d) i do work that matters and eases the suffering of others to create meaning for myself.

i think it could be, depending upon circumstances. likewise, i think it could also be actively harmful (depending upon circumstances).