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> Doing well at your subjects in AU got you labelled as a nerd. As a Chinese student who studied in Australia for a few years I think you just misunderstand th

> Doing well at your subjects in AU got you labelled as a nerd. As a Chinese student who studied in Australia for a few years I think you just misunderstand the culture. Most of the popular kids got good grades and were not labelled as nerds. And the nerd kids didn’t really get good grades either. I think Australians are very practical focused (maybe this is what you mean by anti-intellectual?). For example the friends I know who wanted to do medicine and law - and are now successful doctors and lawyers - stopped focusing on maths at the end of grade 10. This would put them way behind in math than an equivalent Chinese student who also wanted to be a doctor or lawyer but as far as I can tell it hasn’t had any negative impact on their careers.

chopin 6y ago
Not being profound at statistics should be a strict no-go for anyone practicing medicine. Many great discoveries come from linking different disciplines. I hope there is more to live than just a career. I am very grateful for the broad spectrum I've been given.
- iateanapple 6y ago
  > Not being profound at statistics should be a strict no-go for anyone practicing medicine. I think you will find that your bar would exclude the overwhelming majority of doctors.
- blaser-waffle 6y ago
  I need my doctor to have a basic understanding of statistics. I don't need them to have a profound knowledge of anything except their professional specialty. Chances are they took a basic Epidemiology class -- or a class that had it as a component -- and covered "Stat for medical workers." And that should be enough.
  - tgflynn 6y ago
    I disagree. Accurate reasoning under uncertainty is highly non-trivial (as current events with covid-19 are making clear) and is I suspect one of the most important skills a clinician could have for making rational diagnoses and treatment decisions. Whether currently available statistics training is even adequate to the task of teaching this skill is a separate question, the answer to which is unclear to me.

chopin 6y ago

Not being profound at statistics should be a strict no-go for anyone practicing medicine. Many great discoveries come from linking different disciplines. I hope there is more to live than just a career. I am very grateful for the broad spectrum I've been given.

iateanapple 6y ago
> Not being profound at statistics should be a strict no-go for anyone practicing medicine. I think you will find that your bar would exclude the overwhelming majority of doctors.
blaser-waffle 6y ago
I need my doctor to have a basic understanding of statistics. I don't need them to have a profound knowledge of anything except their professional specialty. Chances are they took a basic Epidemiology class -- or a class that had it as a component -- and covered "Stat for medical workers." And that should be enough.
- tgflynn 6y ago
  I disagree. Accurate reasoning under uncertainty is highly non-trivial (as current events with covid-19 are making clear) and is I suspect one of the most important skills a clinician could have for making rational diagnoses and treatment decisions. Whether currently available statistics training is even adequate to the task of teaching this skill is a separate question, the answer to which is unclear to me.