[covidacct]

> They accept the risk and willing to trade the cost with the benefit.

This is only true at the very beginning of a smoker's habit.

I know a lot of smokers. Exactly zero of them are "willing" to trade the cost for the benefit, for any meaningful definition of "willing".

Addiction is hard. Many addicts rationalize, but few truly "choose".

[stOneskull]

There really isn't much benefit at the beginning. It's an effort getting through not wanting to throw up. I think usually it's about being cool and a rebel.

[Kajayacht]

Being cool and a rebel is totally a benefit.

[stOneskull]

ha, yep. that's why we persisted. i mean, if by stopping smoking it meant you could live to one thousand years old, then yeah, it'd make a lot of people think again.

[matz1]

Even for addict, its still a choice, they choose to continue smoking because its much easier than giving up.

[munk-a]

In our society when someone is highly intoxicated they cannot legally consent to sexual activities - they do have a choice still and are deciding it... we just understand that their thought process is being extremely heavily influenced by an outside source.

For an addict it becomes not a choice, I'm not absolving every addict of everything ever but addiction really screws with your brain and if you have an addictive personality you can end up feeling compelled to do something even while fully accepting you'll feel guilty about it later.

From a technical & mechanical perspective the person has made a choice, from an agency perspective the scenario is less clear and we generally understand that intoxication (either through physical addictions or obsessions) can lower the responsibility of the party involved... and there are a lot of examples toward and against this point in society[1] but I don't think we can clearly consider this a choice.

1. For instance drunk driving is considered in the opposite manner where choosing to drive drunk assumes a greater responsibility, and implies a greater agency, on the actor.

[matz1]

For an addict, its still a choice between continue or work extremely hard to give it up. Sure, you can consider it not a choice, its your preference but I do consider is a choice, I think many other people do as well.

[darkerside]

This is a little true, but it's not all true. Just like a drowning man grabs his rescuer uncontrollably, drowning them both, there are actions you may take that you can't fully control. Sometimes a choice is being made, but it isn't being made when you think it's being made.