4 ms·
> Right, but the probability of you dying because you do have a pacemaker is (in the situations for which a pacemaker is prescribed) far less than the probabili
by jimktrains2 8y ago
> Right, but the probability of you dying because you do have a pacemaker is (in the situations for which a pacemaker is prescribed) far less than the probability of you dying because you don't have a pacemaker.
That assumes the pacemaker works more often than it doesn't. (Which is the case now.) It's an unstated assumption that doesn't always apply when generalizing your example.
- kilotaras 8y agoNo it doesn't assume that. We don't install pacemakers to everyone at birth. Even if pacemaker fails 90% of the time 90% chance of death is better than a 100% without it.
- jimktrains2 8y agoYou're assuming "fails" only accounts for false negatives. False positives are a thing. If there was a 90% chance of a pacemaker going off when it wasn't needed, they wouldn't be used as it'd cause nearly as meany deaths as it prevents, assuming no false negatives.