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May 24, 2005
Selecting a Doctor: The Minimum Requirement
The Panda's Thumb has a discussion of a poll by the Louis Finkelstein Institute for Social and Religious Research at The Jewish Theological Seminary and HCD Research. The results indicate that "the majority of all doctors (78%) accept evolution rather than reject it." That is just short of good news. There is something wrong with the way we train doctors if that number is lower than about 95%. There will always be a few who don't learn their lessons. But 22% is way too high.
If a doctor doesn't "accept evolution" then he or she can not apply a very high percentage of modern medicine in an informed way. Sure, a doctor can use these new tools in the same way that a satellite TV installer can install your dish without knowing the details of how it works but I sure hope the engineers who design the thing know and accept how it works. The problem comes when something goes wrong and the doctor needs a plan B and fast.
Ask your doctor if he or she "accepts evolution." If the answer is "no" don't look to that doctor to be able to knowledgably use any medical technology that has been developed since the end of the nineteenth century. Check out the poll. One thing that is clear is that your chances are better with a Jewish (94% accepting evolution) or Catholic (86%) doctor than with a protestant doctor (59%).
Burt Humburg goes into several interesting and related issues in the Panda's Thumb post. His suggestion that these polls ask questions which qualify the knowledge of the interviewee. I agree strongly with this suggestion. One would expect the ignorant to give ignorant answers and the knowledgeable to give knowledgeable answers And it would sure help to know which group gave which answers when trying to interpret these polls. The most vexing issue that Humburg raises is his report on the Discovery Institute's attempt to bring doctors into the so-called "controversy." But this new band of creationists has no shame.
Even more disturbing was that
Half of the doctors (50%) believe that schools should be allowed (but not required) to teach intelligent design.
This is just nuts or perhaps only fair play gone amok. It is this group of educated practitioners (i.e. doctors) that society should be able to look to for the unvarnished truth concerning the science that underlies much of their discipline. But we seem only to get a reflection of society's opinions rather than educated opinions. Shocking.
Posted by Duane Smith at May 24, 2005 5:02 PM | Read more on Evolution |
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