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Why would we want the smartest kids to become doctors? Maybe the small fraction of doctors that are working on new or improved treatments, but most doctors trea

Why would we want the smartest kids to become doctors? Maybe the small fraction of doctors that are working on new or improved treatments, but most doctors treat one person at a time. I’d rather have the smartest kids go into a field where they can do work that impacts millions or billions of people.

lotsofpulp 5y ago
That is a good question. Maybe the US has been unnecessarily using over qualified people.
antasvara 5y ago
What field impacts millions and isn't currently being paid well enough? I think the point being made here is that most of the jobs that pay super well don't create the same amount of "value" (and I use this loosely, as it's a super subjective term) as a doctor.
ta988 5y ago
It is not just the number of people but he impact on each of these single person. Saving a life has an impact on more than one person as it is what allows that person to benefit society (potentially) for many more years (ideally).
- bradleyjg 5y ago
  If you have one really smart person and she can either work for Ford improving safety features on all their vehicles to prevent accidents or be a really great trauma surgeon treating people that have been in accidents—-which one is likely to save more lives?
  - CogitoCogito 5y ago
    Probably the doctor. I'm serious. There are probably hundreds of people working at Ford on safety features. The number of auto deaths in the US seems to be pretty stable at around 35k the last few years. Say Ford single-handedly dropped that number by a few hundred over the period an engineer worked there (say 5 years). Then I guess that averaged out that engineer saved roughly one life due to the efforts. Of course all the numbers are just pulled out of my ass (well other than the 35k number which I got from Wikipedia), but even if it's off by 10x, a doctor could still easily save more people in that time frame. Anyway my point isn't to prove you wrong (picking random numbers and doing random extrapolation won't do that), but just to say that your point, will reasonable on the surface, probably needs to a bit more analysis if one is to take it too seriously. edit: I would really appreciate the downvoters' thoughts. I'm really failing to see the fault in my thought process here. Please enlighten me.
    - bradleyjg 5y ago
      It’s not a bad point (I can’t and didn’t downvote you). However, I stand by my original claim that most doctors aren’t doing the kind of work that we collectively would want the very brightest people to do, if we had the choice. It’s just not leveraged enough.
      - CogitoCogito 5y ago
        I understand your claim and don't find it unreasonable, but I think there are lower hanging fruit than doctors. Many of the brightest minds of our generation are putting their efforts to ads and manipulation in order to increase consumption. I'd pick the doctors over them.
mcguire 5y ago
Are you sure you want them to work for Facebook? :-)

lotsofpulp 5y ago

That is a good question. Maybe the US has been unnecessarily using over qualified people.

antasvara 5y ago

What field impacts millions and isn't currently being paid well enough? I think the point being made here is that most of the jobs that pay super well don't create the same amount of "value" (and I use this loosely, as it's a super subjective term) as a doctor.

ta988 5y ago

It is not just the number of people but he impact on each of these single person. Saving a life has an impact on more than one person as it is what allows that person to benefit society (potentially) for many more years (ideally).

bradleyjg 5y ago
If you have one really smart person and she can either work for Ford improving safety features on all their vehicles to prevent accidents or be a really great trauma surgeon treating people that have been in accidents—-which one is likely to save more lives?
- CogitoCogito 5y ago
  Probably the doctor. I'm serious. There are probably hundreds of people working at Ford on safety features. The number of auto deaths in the US seems to be pretty stable at around 35k the last few years. Say Ford single-handedly dropped that number by a few hundred over the period an engineer worked there (say 5 years). Then I guess that averaged out that engineer saved roughly one life due to the efforts. Of course all the numbers are just pulled out of my ass (well other than the 35k number which I got from Wikipedia), but even if it's off by 10x, a doctor could still easily save more people in that time frame. Anyway my point isn't to prove you wrong (picking random numbers and doing random extrapolation won't do that), but just to say that your point, will reasonable on the surface, probably needs to a bit more analysis if one is to take it too seriously. edit: I would really appreciate the downvoters' thoughts. I'm really failing to see the fault in my thought process here. Please enlighten me.
  - bradleyjg 5y ago
    It’s not a bad point (I can’t and didn’t downvote you). However, I stand by my original claim that most doctors aren’t doing the kind of work that we collectively would want the very brightest people to do, if we had the choice. It’s just not leveraged enough.
    - CogitoCogito 5y ago
      I understand your claim and don't find it unreasonable, but I think there are lower hanging fruit than doctors. Many of the brightest minds of our generation are putting their efforts to ads and manipulation in order to increase consumption. I'd pick the doctors over them.

mcguire 5y ago

Are you sure you want them to work for Facebook? :-)