Why “Nicotine” is being discussed
The most recent Hacker News stories and comments contributing to this topic's mentions.
Not much science in that article. I've seen the same article, from US sources. It's like they had AI copy it. [article] "Vaping nicotine, a highly addictive substance, is less h…
by Kevin_Flynn · Oct 17, 2026
Also literally the post he links to for "its bad actually" is a blog about how it's great and not very addictive and just has some tweets from people who apparently didn't pay a…
by joshjob42 · Oct 15, 2026
My point is that people, lacking common sense, got themselves addicted to nicotine after reading this blog post. I'm not trying to refute the science here, which would be both f…
by alexwennerberg · Oct 15, 2026
This means you missed the entire point of the article. The author assumes that you already know that nicotine is bad.
by skrebbel · Oct 15, 2026
"On balance they are still bad" is a statement that one justifies by actually comparing the good and bad properties. It seems pretty clear (though I could be wrong!) that for co…
by gjm11 · Oct 15, 2026
What irks me the most about rationalists is their inability to acknowledge their own biases. The nicotine article linked was a series of citations linked by some commentary in b…
by DanielVZ · Oct 15, 2026
Interest
Proportion of Hacker News items mentioning "nicotine" over time.
Mentions
Total number of Hacker News items mentioning "nicotine" over time.
Nicotine is a stimulant and alkaloid found primarily in plants of the nightshade family, notably in tobacco; it is also synthesized. Nicotine is used recreationally for its stimulant and anxiolytic effects. In tobacco leaves, nicotine constitutes about 0.6–3% of the dry weight, and smaller, trace quantities occur in other Solanaceae crops such as tomatoes, potatoes, and eggplants. In pure form, nicotine is a colorless to yellowish, oily liquid that readily penetrates biological membranes and acts as a potent neurotoxin in insects, where it serves as an antiherbivore toxin. Historically, it was widely used as an insecticide, and its structure provided the basis for synthetic neonicotinoid pesticides. Read more on Wikipedia