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> You really think the casualty rate from programmers--with all our mistakes--can beat that? I think that if my infrastructure + code had any direct connection

> You really think the casualty rate from programmers--with all our mistakes--can beat that? I think that if my infrastructure + code had any direct connection to patient outcome, there would be a lot of harm done. Not that I'm particular bad at either, but I know the effective cost of errors is minimal, and certainly does not have a direct impact on people's health. If I had the same responsibilities as a surgeon, I'd have a much slower rate of change in my systems. I do not in any way believe that the fact that we in IT kill fewer people than surgeons has any meaning for whether we're more skilled than doctors.

GMoromisato 1y ago
This is a good point. My comment is really an emotional reaction to the (very common) denigration of software engineers, so don't take it too seriously. But I also think that good software engineers can scale the reliability of their software to fit the purpose. There is a ton of software in medical devices, and despite the well-publicized fatal bugs, 99.9% of medical software works without error. In fact, the automation of things like drug dispensing at pharmacies has decreased mistakes. I think if you deleted all the medical software in the world, deaths would increase.