I’ve been thinking about qat a lot these past few days, so I’ll tap out of the Far mode discussion. Just this: my problem with coffee is that people are often given too much work, which they require coffee and similar stimulants to accomplish. (Witness: programmers’ love for soda; project deadlines at university.) Qat doesn’t seem to have that problem.
It does have another problem: if you don’t want coffee, it’s usually socially acceptable to drink another hot beverage (though if you don’t want tea either you’re kinda screwed), whereas qat lacks an alternative.
Given the third world’s fondness for tobacco (eg. apparently China is now the largest and growing tobacco market in the world), isn’t chewing tobacco an alternative?
Coffee may be too Near to discuss; I suggest a different even-older expensive teeth-staining addictive stimulant plant popular in social gatherings.
I’ve been thinking about qat a lot these past few days, so I’ll tap out of the Far mode discussion. Just this: my problem with coffee is that people are often given too much work, which they require coffee and similar stimulants to accomplish. (Witness: programmers’ love for soda; project deadlines at university.) Qat doesn’t seem to have that problem.
It does have another problem: if you don’t want coffee, it’s usually socially acceptable to drink another hot beverage (though if you don’t want tea either you’re kinda screwed), whereas qat lacks an alternative.
Given the third world’s fondness for tobacco (eg. apparently China is now the largest and growing tobacco market in the world), isn’t chewing tobacco an alternative?