Re: My advice to psychiatrists - make accurate diagnosis before rushing into treatment for patients

Marshall Price wrote:

*snip*

Don't trust experts? Disregard them?

Experts are people. They have flaws and follies, opinions and beliefs,
barrows to push and axes to grind too. There are expert experts, and experts
that are expert in comparision to lay folk, but not all that expert compared
to expert experts. That being said, usually when a person is considered an
'expert' on a particular subject, its because *other people* recognise their
expertise on that particular subject, rather them trumpetting their own
horn, and if other experts recognise a person as a fellow expert, that much
the better. The more recognised someone is amongst fellow 'experts', the
more likely it is (at least to me) that their expertise is genuine and
trustworthy.

When the average person lacks the knowledge they need, the seek out these
experts because they have the specific knowledge about that particular
subject that they need. After seeking out and then getting the expert's
advice, it would then be folly to immediately disregard it. If the person
seeking out the expert advice doesn't agree with the advice, it seems
perfectly reasonable to me to seek out the opinion of another expert in that
same field. If the advice of the two experts agree, then it is likely that
the experts were right and the lay person wrong. If they seek out a third
opinion and all three experts agree, it would then strike me that is even
more likely that the experts were right and the lay person wrong, with 4
expert opinions in agreement, its even more likely experts are right etc
etc.

There is always the possibility that the expert or experts were wrong and
the lay person was right, of course, and thats how we get those incredible
stories such as "Lorenzo's Oil" and the like, but experts tend to be experts
for a reason. In the end, you have to trust in the expert you choose
(assuming you've chosen one) or wing it yourself without the knowledge and
experience the expert has. Personally, I don't think I need an expert to
change a light bulb (I think I have enough expertise to do it myself) but
when the fuseboard at my hosue kept blowing, I chose to call in an expert
(an electrician) to sort the problem out rather than trying to do it myself.
I feel I have enough expertise to put a band-aid on my son's finger when its
cut, and give him a dose of Panadol (you might call it tylenol) if he's got
a cold, but chose to use an expert's services when he disclocated his
shoulder and when his breathing got so laboured he turned blue.

The moral of the story: when you realise you are not skilled enough to deal
with whatever it is and seek out an expert's help, it seems then rather
silly to then dismiss the expert's opinion as 'inaccurate' without at least
seeking further clarification.

Yowie
--
"because its more fun to be evil" - Jarppi, _The Dudesons_


.

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