# cigarette smoking vs. tanning - a minor correction to the statistics **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [April 17, 2009, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cigarette-smoking-vs-tanning-a-minor-correction-to-the-statistics/493407 "2009-04-17T13:26:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2009, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cigarette-smoking-vs-tanning-a-minor-correction-to-the-statistics/493407/1 "2009-04-17T13:26:03Z")
I would never dare suggest that Cecil Adams was wrong, but in [What’s more likely to cause cancer, smoking or tanning?](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2860/whats-more-likely-to-cause-cancer-smoking-or-tanning) (April 17, 2009) I see the following: > [@](#): > > The long-run risk of death for anyone short of the Virgin Mary is a solid 100 percent. By my calculations, this is incorrect. I come up with this number: two other people have never died: [Elijah](http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05381b.htm) and [Enoch](http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07218a.htm). The number of people who have lived is approximately 107000000000 ([cite](http://www.prb.org/Articles/2002/HowManyPeopleHaveEverLivedonEarth.aspx)). This number needs to be adjusted for the last seven years but I’ll take it as an approximation. Therefore, the long-run risk of death for anyone short of the Virgin Mary is (107000000000 - 2) ÷ 107000000000 = 0.99999999998 or 99.99999998 % So there is still hope for me, in that I may avoid the taste of death. ---
**Author:** ![fjs1fs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9e8a1a/32.png) [@fjs1fs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fjs1fs)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2009, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cigarette-smoking-vs-tanning-a-minor-correction-to-the-statistics/493407/2 "2009-04-22T13:55:23Z")
New update, Arnold: I was hanging out at a tough bar on the west side of manhattan the other night, and who should walk in but Elijah and Enoch. Unfortunately a fierce bar fight broke out, and they were both knifed to death. So, Cecil’s 100% stat is now correct again. (BTW, Enoch was chain smoking the whole time, and Elijah had this really deep dark tan, which had to be salon-induced, so they were really pressing their luck!) > [@Arnold\_Winkelried](#): > > I would never dare suggest that Cecil Adams was wrong, but in > [What’s more likely to cause cancer, smoking or tanning?](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2860/whats-more-likely-to-cause-cancer-smoking-or-tanning) (April 17, 2009) > I see the following: > By my calculations, this is incorrect. I come up with this number: > two other people have never died: [Elijah](http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05381b.htm) and [Enoch](http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07218a.htm). > > The number of people who have lived is approximately 107000000000 ([cite](http://www.prb.org/Articles/2002/HowManyPeopleHaveEverLivedonEarth.aspx)). This number needs to be adjusted for the last seven years but I’ll take it as an approximation. > Therefore, the long-run risk of death for anyone short of the Virgin Mary is (107000000000 - 2) ÷ 107000000000 = 0.99999999998 or 99.99999998 % > > So there is still hope for me, in that I may avoid the taste of death. ---
**Author:** ![RiverRunner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/977dab/32.png) [@RiverRunner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RiverRunner)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2009, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cigarette-smoking-vs-tanning-a-minor-correction-to-the-statistics/493407/3 "2009-04-22T15:08:20Z")
> [@fjs1fs](#): > > New update, Arnold: I was hanging out at a tough bar on the west side of manhattan the other night, and who should walk in but Elijah and Enoch. Unfortunately a fierce bar fight broke out, and they were both knifed to death. So, Cecil’s 100% stat is now correct again. (BTW, Enoch was chain smoking the whole time, and Elijah had this really deep dark tan, which had to be salon-induced, so they were really pressing their luck!) Thanks to you, I had to explain to a co-worker why I was laughing when he went by. RR ---
**Author:** ![zamkam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/f4b2a3/32.png) [@zamkam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zamkam)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2009, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cigarette-smoking-vs-tanning-a-minor-correction-to-the-statistics/493407/4 "2009-04-23T18:49:47Z")
A tanning salon in NC is nothing compared to the one I saw while vacationing in …ARIZONA!!. No joke. I don’t know who’s dumber: the person who uses it or the one who decided it was a good idea to open one. ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2009, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cigarette-smoking-vs-tanning-a-minor-correction-to-the-statistics/493407/5 "2009-04-25T13:53:32Z")
> [@fjs1fs](#): > > New update, Arnold: I was hanging out at a tough bar on the west side of manhattan the other night, and who should walk in but Elijah and Enoch. Unfortunately a fierce bar fight broke out, and they were both knifed to death. So, Cecil’s 100% stat is now correct again. (BTW, Enoch was chain smoking the whole time, and Elijah had this really deep dark tan, which had to be salon-induced, so they were really pressing their luck!) Good one! But there must be some other religious traditions that mention people that never died. Anyone know of any? ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2009, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cigarette-smoking-vs-tanning-a-minor-correction-to-the-statistics/493407/6 "2009-04-25T13:57:25Z")
> [@zamkam](#): > > A tanning salon in NC is nothing compared to the one I saw while vacationing in …ARIZONA!!. No joke. I don’t know who’s dumber: the person who uses it or the one who decided it was a good idea to open one. There are plenty of tanning salons here in Southern California. ---
**Author:** ![John\_W.Kennedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_w.kennedy/32/1031_2.png) [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2009, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cigarette-smoking-vs-tanning-a-minor-correction-to-the-statistics/493407/7 "2009-04-25T22:48:13Z")
> [@Arnold\_Winkelried](#): > > Good one! But there must be some other religious traditions that mention people that never died. Anyone know of any? I don’t. The nearest equivalent that comes to mind is the type of the pagan hero who _after death_ joins the gods (as opposed to the average schlub who can look forward to no more than a vague, ghostlike existence). But the hero who never dies in the first place seems to be unique to the Abrahamic religions, both as part of the actual religion (Enoch, Elijah; Mary; Mohammed, and, for the Twelvers, Muhammad ibn al-Hassan) and as semireligious legend (Arthur, Holger Danske, Barbarossa). The Wandering Jew and the Flying Dutchman constitute antitypes, I suppose. Longfellow’s _Hiawatha_ has something in that way, but, as far as I know, that is Longfellow’s invention; it falls in the most obviously Christianized part of the poem.