In a recent article by Wired magazine, Ralph Keeney brought to light a recent study published in the journal Operations Research. According to the study, 55 percent of deaths for people in the United States aged 15 to 64 can be attributed to decisions with readily available alternatives. Or as Keeney puts it:

In other words, most people are agents of their own demise.

As he says, it’s not that we’ve created a culture of stupidity, but rather one of ignorance. Pride is a powerful thing in this country, and the “That’s not going to happen to ME” argument is alive and well. You know, the same argument that sunk the Titanic. We don’t calculate the risks we are taking with the costs associated with them. In the year 1900, decision-making led to only 5% of deaths. That’s a staggering increase. So what kinds of decisions are we making that lead to death? Here are a few:

• Smoking. Is it cool? It shocks me every time I see somebody under the age of 45 with a cigarette in their hand. How is this possible? It is well-documented that smoking causes emphysema, heart problems, a bunch of cancers, and so on. Does it help you relive stress? Good – then you’ll be really relaxed when you’re 50 and surgical operations that 3 times longer to recover from, and you gasp for air while you play with your grandkids. At least you’re relaxed right now, right? And it doesn’t make you look like a rebel; it just makes you look stupid.
• Obesity. I bartend on weekends, and I was talking with a guy from Great Britain last week. He said he’s traveled in tons of countries in his lifetime, and he’s never seen obesity like he’s seen it in America. Think about that: we are the fattest country on Earth. Is this something to be proud of? Why don’t we work it off? Are we scared? Lazy? Don’t care? It’s back to the idea that you’ll have a lot more complications as you get older. Save yourself some time and money – put down the doughnut, get off your butt, and start thinning yourself out.
• Not wearing a seat belt. Still boggles my mind. Again, you don’t look “cooler” by not putting your seat belt on. And if anybody thinks you look cooler, they can be the ones to help scrape your face off the pavement.
• Unsafe sex. I blame it on the hippies. That whole “free sex” movement did a number on this nation. Personal beliefs aside, it is absolutely dangerous to have the random, unsafe sexcapades that many people do. I’m not saying it’s as prevalent as some of the other things on this list, but get yourself some condoms or something. You’re rolling the dice every time you have sex, and you have no idea what’s out there.

What other types of choices do we make that end up leading to death?

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