Comments Elsewhere

Portuguese translation question: say I said of someone, “fumava como quem não pensa.” As I understand it, literally this means something like “he was smoking like one who does not think / is not thinking.” Q.: would I read this as describing the mental state of the smoker (that he seems like he’s not thinking about something or about anything in particular?) Or is it an idiomatic phrase to indicate he’s smoking a lot or in a peculiar way (e.g. “He was smoking like you wouldn’t believe.”) Or does it mean something else?