How thinking like a doctor/scientist can improve our everyday life.
There are big problems that come up in our lives, affecting our hopes and dreams for ourselves, our family and even our very lives. When a person's knee starts hurting chronically, affecting what they choose to do in their daily life, should they have a knee replacement surgery? And if a person's doctor diagnoses him/her with prostrate cancer, that person starts worrying - " Should I have the prostrate removed? Should I have radiotherapy or should I simply have it actively monitored?"
These are hard questions..But the way we approach them if we want the best outcomes, is the same way doctors and scientists approach any problem they face. It's a way each of us not only apply science to our everyday lives, but should demand that those making decisions on our behalf should think scientifically as well.
Each of the personal or family problems we face appear to be unique, but there are similarities to how we'd approach them:
1. For the knee replacement surgery, the person will have to evaluate the cause of the pain, whether there's bone - on - bone contact, how old she is, and how long the replacement is likely to last, and whether a future replacement is likely to be a viable option. She'll also have to look at the success rates of the surgery for patients like him, and evaluate what route is likely to give her the best outcome.
2. For prostrate cancer, you'll have to weigh a whole slew of factors about your quality of life with and without your prostrate, whether the cancer is likely to kill you or not, what the outcomes of the different courses of treatment are, and what the risks of having, or not having, various surgeries/ treatments are.
Going with gut instinct, the main intention of which is, to just get rid of the pain, is not always the best approach. Despite all that you can learn, and all the information you can collect on your own, you'll never have as much expertise as the people who have devoted their entire lives to this. We have to be open to new information, to the possibility that we've gotten it all wrong, and consider the option that there might be a better way of doing things. This is how a scientist views the world, and it's one of the most challenging ways of thinking, as it requires us to constantly be questioning our assumptions and our prior conclusions.
The trap we all - doctors and scientists included - fall into, is that we hate to change our minds. Once we've made a decision about what the best conclusion or course of action should be, we tend to lose our objectivity. We tend to go with the facts that support our previously - held positions, to interpret natural facts as supporting what we already believe, and to reject the facts that counter our opinions. It's why so many have proposed that scientists take a scientific oath, similar to the Hippocratic oath that doctors take.
When we question things, we wonder. When we wonder, we go to all extent to get required information. When we present it finally, we shine like a star. Think and wonder ! Question - and that's the way we have to deal with our daily lives.. Think like a doctor/scientist !!!
These are hard questions..But the way we approach them if we want the best outcomes, is the same way doctors and scientists approach any problem they face. It's a way each of us not only apply science to our everyday lives, but should demand that those making decisions on our behalf should think scientifically as well.
Each of the personal or family problems we face appear to be unique, but there are similarities to how we'd approach them:
1. For the knee replacement surgery, the person will have to evaluate the cause of the pain, whether there's bone - on - bone contact, how old she is, and how long the replacement is likely to last, and whether a future replacement is likely to be a viable option. She'll also have to look at the success rates of the surgery for patients like him, and evaluate what route is likely to give her the best outcome.
2. For prostrate cancer, you'll have to weigh a whole slew of factors about your quality of life with and without your prostrate, whether the cancer is likely to kill you or not, what the outcomes of the different courses of treatment are, and what the risks of having, or not having, various surgeries/ treatments are.
Going with gut instinct, the main intention of which is, to just get rid of the pain, is not always the best approach. Despite all that you can learn, and all the information you can collect on your own, you'll never have as much expertise as the people who have devoted their entire lives to this. We have to be open to new information, to the possibility that we've gotten it all wrong, and consider the option that there might be a better way of doing things. This is how a scientist views the world, and it's one of the most challenging ways of thinking, as it requires us to constantly be questioning our assumptions and our prior conclusions.
The trap we all - doctors and scientists included - fall into, is that we hate to change our minds. Once we've made a decision about what the best conclusion or course of action should be, we tend to lose our objectivity. We tend to go with the facts that support our previously - held positions, to interpret natural facts as supporting what we already believe, and to reject the facts that counter our opinions. It's why so many have proposed that scientists take a scientific oath, similar to the Hippocratic oath that doctors take.
When we question things, we wonder. When we wonder, we go to all extent to get required information. When we present it finally, we shine like a star. Think and wonder ! Question - and that's the way we have to deal with our daily lives.. Think like a doctor/scientist !!!
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