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Re:Our Irrational Fear of Forgetting by corin_ on Monday May 23, 2011 @08:18AM (#2575699)
As a smoker, my two thoughts are:

1.) I'd rather have a 10% chance of dying than a 10% chance of living many years with something like Alzheimer's.

2.) I'm not someone who says "I wish I could quit but I'm addicted", I find it easy not to smoke but I do it because I really enjoy smoking. I'm trading possible early death with current pleasure. Alzheimer's doesn't have any upside or choice involved.

Re:Our Irrational Fear of Forgetting by archgoon on Monday May 23, 2011 @03:18PM (#2577152)
Hi, just wanted to make clear that my main point is that most people consider the risks of smoking and getting cancer to be a real concern. So I find it disingenuous for the author to claim that "Hey 10%! That's pretty unlikely!"

Probably should have added something like that to the original post, my pardon.

Re:Our Irrational Fear of Forgetting by ewald on Monday May 23, 2011 @10:29AM (#2576015)
You say it like if you smoke, you cannot get Alzheimer.
Re:Our Irrational Fear of Forgetting by corin_ on Monday May 23, 2011 @10:59AM (#2576126)
No, I really don't. I was merely pointing out the difference between smoking risks and normal risks. As a smoker maybe I have an equal chance of getting lung cancer as Alzheimer's, but personally I'm more worried about the latter.