Vaniver comments on The Rosenhan Experiment - Less Wrong

3 Post author: chaosmosis 14 September 2012 10:31PM

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Comment author: Vaniver 15 September 2012 02:02:30PM *  0 points [-]

they are not substantially better

They have to be better along the "how long were they detained?" axis because for decades there were about 40% less asylum beds than there had been previously. I think it's likely that the underlying thought processes and biases- i.e. normal people looking crazy enough to diagnose if you already think they're crazy- are not significantly different, and that's what most people care about anyway. (Being able to convince a doctor that I'm sane is more important to me than whether it takes 2 days or 19!)

Comment author: MixedNuts 15 September 2012 05:28:18PM 1 point [-]

Being able to convince a doctor that I'm sane is more important to me than whether it takes 2 days or 19!

Why is that? That's the case if you need psychiatric certification for a job or a medical procedure or something. But generally, being locked up somewhere people can make you take arbitrary medication is bad, and grows worse over time (medication kicking in and unsafe to quit too quickly, effects of detention, damage to your outside life), whereas a piece of paper telling you to take some medication can be ignored. Is there something I'm missing, like insurance premiums?

Comment author: Vaniver 15 September 2012 09:40:06PM 1 point [-]

My preference ordering:

Declared sane and released after 2 days > declared sane and released after 19 days > declared insane and released after 2 days > declared insane and released after 19 days.

I agree that some people might switch the ordering of the second and third outcomes.

Comment author: MixedNuts 15 September 2012 10:02:26PM 1 point [-]

I understand that's your preference ordering, I'm asking why you find being declared insane worse than 17 days of captivity.

Comment author: Vaniver 15 September 2012 10:16:17PM *  2 points [-]

My type 1 systems expect the total discounted long-term costs to be higher. My type 2 systems aren't prepared to do the calculation themselves and are having trouble coming up with justifications, but it seems like self-image and social standing are the most visible concerns.