Three reasons I don’t ski. I also avoid cocaine and Angry Birds for similar reasons.

I don’t ski.

Years ago, a doctor told me to avoid skiing because of the cartilage tears in both of my knees. While I often cite this as the reason for not skiing, I have admittedly never been one to adhere to doctor’s instructions.

The real reason I don’t ski is because of something I was told back in 1992. I was working at a bank in Stoughton, Massachusetts as a customer service representative. I was helping a man settle an issue with his account, and while I was waiting for the necessary information, I asked him if he had plans for the weekend.

“Skiing,” he said. “Always skiing.”

Having grown up poor, I had never been skiing before, so I mentioned to him that I’d like to try skiing someday.

“Don’t,” he said. “Skiing is exactly like cocaine. It’s expensive, it’s addictive and you will get hurt.”

That sounded about right. So I decided there and then to never ski.

It’s the same reason I have never played Angry Birds or any other game on my iPhone. I know I would like the games a lot, and I know I would waste an enormous amount of time playing them.

Better to avoid them entirely. 

As the man rose to leave my office, he turned, smiled and said, “It’s also all about the quality of the powder.”

Bethany Meyer’s recent 5 Reasons This Family Isn't Skiing is a good list, but I like my former banking customer’s list better.

Unfair assumption #2: Smokers are not as smart as nonsmokers.

Smokers are not as smart as nonsmokers. Considering the addictive nature of nicotine and the deliberate manipulation of nicotine levels by tobacco companies. this was an assumption that never seemed fair to me. Though I never tried smoking, I know how easily a person can become addicted to smoking if they decide to experiment with it at a young age.

Nevertheless, I’ve always thought that smokers weren’t as smart as nonsmokers.

It turns out my assumption might not be so unfair after all.

Researchers have found that smokers have lower IQs than those who abstain, with intelligence decreasing the more one smokes.

A study of 18 to 21-year-old men revealed that the IQs of smokers averaged 94 – seven points lower than non-smokers on 101.

The study also measured effects in twin brothers – and in the case where one twin smoked, the non-smoking twin registered a higher IQ on average.

This study was first published in 2010, and it has been repeated multiple times since then with similar findings.

This does not mean, of course, that all smokers are less intelligent than nonsmokers. This is the part of my assumption that remains unfair. There are some highly intelligent people in the world who smoke.

But it’s apparently not as unfair as I once thought to assume that in general, smokers are a less intelligent group of people as a whole.

What I would like to see next is research on the intelligence of people who have quit smoking versus those who continue to smoke. I assume, perhaps unfairly, that the smokers who eventually quit are more intelligent than the smokers who do not, but I’m not sure if a person’s ability to overcome addiction is related to IQ.

But I think it might be.