[nippoo]

To each their own. I find soldering (with a nice iron!) very therapeutic, much like knitting. I'll put on a good album or catch up with some friends on the phone.

If you're impatient, plenty of fab houses (like JLCPCB) will do all the soldering for you, for about 0.1 cents per SMD joint or 2 cents per THT joint...

[michaeljx]

Nice iron,a good clamping set-up, and a high-quality correctly specked (to the task) solder make all the difference

[II2II]

I enjoy soldering, and like your comparisons. Yet I certainly don't blame the author for highlighting how unhealthy it is.

[bityard]

The lead is leaded solder is entirely manageable. You should keep track of it all and dispose of it properly. (I.e. not in a landfill.) Wash your hands afterwards. It doesn't vaporize, or at least not in any quantities that you should care about.

As long as you are not directly inhaling in the flux smoke while hovering over the project, it's not that unhealthy. If you are a hobbyist doing an hour of soldering a week, you probably get more smoke particle inhalation making toast. Or pizza. Or frying literally anything.

(If I was soldering for a living, yes I'd want a really good fume extractor on the bench, though.)