> High levels of education linked to heightened brain tumor risk

> Gliomas, in particular, more common among university-educated, large observational study shows

> Men with university level education, lasting at least three years, were 19% more likely to develop a glioma

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/06/160620221757.h...

I believe, for a rare cancer, a 19% increased risk is not a very big deal. It's still low risk. (And of course, only the correlation is known.)

One can speculate and find many ways that thinking too hard would increase cancer rates, although none of these speculations are strong enough to be actionable.

For example, thinking harder leads to greater metabolic activity in the brain, and greater metabolic activity can increase the risk of cancer. Therefore, thinking harder increases the risk of cancer.

Thinking hard can be associated with increased stress, and increased stress can cause the induction of endogenous viruses, which can themselves cause cancer or other serious problems.

I could go on, but the reality is, even while all of these are realistic statements, they contribute far less to overall risk than obesity or driving.

There also seems to be evidence that not thinking hard enough also causes issues however. Just as high metabolic activity in muscles can increase risk of cancer, very low metabolic activity also causes a wide range of problems.

While that doesn't sound very likely, I'm not a biologist or doctor (I don't think there's any current evidence to support such a theory.)

Anecdotally people I know who dont give an f live longer than the overachieving ones.

Actually I would think the other way around.

Though, this doesn't seem to be a clear correlation.

How would the mechanism work in your example?

Daily Mail headline: "Thinking gives you cancer!"