I did mean it's crazy to smoke, not that it doesn't affect the vocal chords.
We're all a little crazy though
Although smoking may make your voice deeper you will have reduced range, and clarity. Therefore, as we should be working towards a variety of tones for the characters in our stories, to express a wide range of emotions, and for the random sounds you might want to make, smoking to improve your voice is not a good idea.
Plus coughing is quite unattractive, and a sign of poor health. Lets not forget that it smells pretty bad, also unattractive.
On the flip side, smoking can be quite sexy (sucking on a fallic object).
The next bit has nothing to do with pick-up (except that girls dig intellectuals):
I'm not sure why a nihilist would be looking for pleasure now.
Nihilists believe there is no objective value or meaning in the world, hedonists believe that you should pursue pleasure and avoid pain. And although half of hedonism is about pleasure, it's not necessarily about pleasure now.
Avoiding pain is largely about the alleviation of desire, want or need. As the body is in a constant state of need (oxygen, food, etc.), you can never be without need as long as you are alive. In Greek times some hedonists were convinced to commit suicide as this is the only way to escape need.
(I love philosophy)
(I also love you all)