Risky Feelings and Cigarette Breaks: The Irrationality of Choosing to Smoke

By: Peter A. Ubel

Sign Up Now! Already a Member? Log In
You must be logged into Bookshare to access this title. Learn about membership options, or view our freely available titles.

Synopsis: People make all kinds of risky decisions in their lives. Rock climbers and white-water rafters, for example, enjoy these activities because of the risk involved. Other risks, like riding your bike through congested streets to work, are worth taking despite the risk. We all accept that taking risks is often the rational thing to do. But what about smoking? Can we talk about rational decision making in the context of addictive drugs like tobacco? In this chapter, physician and behavioral scientist Peter Ubel considers the difference between knowing a risk and feeling a risk and discusses whether or not the irrational choices consumers sometimes make justify increased government regulation of products like drugs and alcohol. This chapter is excerpted from "Free Market Madness: Why Human Nature Is at Odds with Economics--and Why It Matters."