datadataeverywhere comments on Humans are not automatically strategic - Less Wrong

153 Post author: AnnaSalamon 08 September 2010 07:02AM

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Comment author: datadataeverywhere 09 September 2010 04:50:38PM 4 points [-]

Agreed. Even if they don't make things up, the responsible thing to do is to iterate through harmless or nearly-harmless treatments for conditions that the physician thinks are unlikely, but more likely than any other ideas he or she has.

This is exactly the opposite problem; not being at all bewildered or in doubt, despite a paucity of evidence. Doctors do that too.

Both making things up and jumping to conclusions happen because doctors are humans and are wired to see patterns, whether or not they exist. While we're busy refining the art of human rationality, we ought to try to curb that behavior.