> That’s asinine, obviously he doesn’t mean more data is always better even if the test is invasive or dangerous.
With him classifying all MDs as idiots, no it is not asinine.
I’ve known few academic physicians that would turn down data if it can be ethically obtained.
The difference between the medical profession and, say Google, is that we as a general rule do not consider the populace one big lab to experiment on as we please. The consequences are more than a little different.
It’s not like things were always this way in medicine either.
I think the key distinction is that clinical science rather than medicine needs as much data as possible, and then medicine needs to follow clinical science.
And then, that medicine needs to become much more sophisticated in dealing with risk and uncertainty, given the absurd complexity of the problem domain. Doctors are not idiots but they are no more than human while trying to do an impossibly difficult job, and are far too cocksure given that context. They should be asking for as much help as they can get, which is not the reality of the situation. See something as simple as the resistance to checklists in surgery for example, despite the evidence.
I see your point about ethical breaches which have taken place. I would tend to think of those as abuses of power rather than coming from an ideological position, but that may not be correct. You’re certainly right about the dangers of a beta test mentality.
With him classifying all MDs as idiots, no it is not asinine.
I’ve known few academic physicians that would turn down data if it can be ethically obtained.
The difference between the medical profession and, say Google, is that we as a general rule do not consider the populace one big lab to experiment on as we please. The consequences are more than a little different.
It’s not like things were always this way in medicine either.