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All Advice Is Not Equal
Why we need to think and assess before blindly following instructions
I’m firmly in favor of evidence-based medicine. Empiricism is the means whereby we learn about reality. Assertions and beliefs are worthless unless they’re supported by hard evidence that remains the same regardless of who does the experiment.
Unfortunately, medical practice is still too often based on assertion and belief rather than on empiricism. This is not surprising given that the origins of medicine predate science by millennia. In many parts of the world, even today, superstition and other folk beliefs predominate. It’s not uncommon in the developing world to see people resort to witchcraft to cure ailments; Chinese medicine is largely spurious and ineffective yet is much employed; and in the West a great many gullible people believe in crystals and “essential” oils and other such nonsense.
Much contemporary medical practice has survived largely unexamined since its origins, so it is not surprising that in many cases there’s no real basis for the recommendations doctors routinely provide. It takes a very long time, and a very great amount of empirical evidence, for doctors to change their minds. After all, when you’re the expert, it’s more than just a little embarrassing to discover you’ve been doing it wrong for decades.
