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adamzerner comments on Open Thread, Jun. 22 - Jun. 28, 2015 - Less Wrong Discussion

6 Post author: Gondolinian 22 June 2015 12:01AM

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Comment author: Lumifer 23 June 2015 02:53:40PM *  13 points [-]

You're probably misreading your doctor.

When he said "99.5 or 99.95%" I rather doubt he meant to give the precise odds. I think that what he meant was "There is a non-zero probability that the cyst will turn out to be an issue, but it is so small I consider it insignificant and so should you". Trying to base some calculations on the 0.5% (or 0.05%) chance is not useful because it's not a "real" probability, just a figurative expression.

Comment author: adamzerner 23 June 2015 02:57:48PM 1 point [-]

Great point. He did seem to pause and think about it, but still a good point. It seems notably likely that you're right, and even so, I doubt that his confidence is well-calibrated.