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Statistical reasoning is far more important for deciding tests and treatment than the ability to reliably distinguish between left and right. You can use a mark
by biomcgary 11y ago
Statistical reasoning is far more important for deciding tests and treatment than the ability to reliably distinguish between left and right. You can use a marker on the skin before surgery, but statistical reasoning may determine that surgery is not even the best option.
Unfortunately, if doctors were filtered based on their ability to do basic statistics, we would lose 90% of them.
- crpatino 11y agoDoctors are probably better, or at least no worse, than the general population on that account. The problem is that "statistical reasoning" is so alien to normal de facto human reasoning that you need years of training before it sets in. Doctors are already taking on a completely different set of extensive training, and their elders did fine with only the most basic statistics knowledge, so clearly (sigh) there's no need to dig into the fancy pants version of the thing. Epidemiologists probably know better, but how do you have them explain to the GPs that this is a useful tool to have???