Rambling Thoughts on a Cold Friday
Nov. 6th, 2015 11:23 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
chris_gerribI have apparently been stood up for my 11 AM interview, so I have a bit of time. (I guess the job market is heating up.) In any event, have a rambling thought.
Dr. Ben Carson, candidate for President, has said some stupid stuff as of late. For example, his claim that the pyramids in Egypt were build by Joseph of Biblical fame as granaries. My dad tells a story of a time he was at a gun range and a man had a jam with his shotgun. Said man turned and pointed the still-loaded round-in-the-chamber gun back at the people waiting to shoot. (An obvious no-no.) Dad felt compelled to get up and help the guy. He was told to sit down, as the man with the jammed gun "was a doctor and didn't need help." Dad decided to find a safer area to wait to shoot.
The common thread here is "doctor" specifically "doctor of medicine." Being a doctor of medicine requires a huge amount of highly-specialized knowledge. This leads people (including the doctor) to think they are smart. Being a doctor does not, and may even contraindicate, having a broad knowledgebase. Doctors, in short, are very smart about a very limited range of subjects. They are not necessarily smart on things not related to medicine.
Dr. Ben Carson, candidate for President, has said some stupid stuff as of late. For example, his claim that the pyramids in Egypt were build by Joseph of Biblical fame as granaries. My dad tells a story of a time he was at a gun range and a man had a jam with his shotgun. Said man turned and pointed the still-loaded round-in-the-chamber gun back at the people waiting to shoot. (An obvious no-no.) Dad felt compelled to get up and help the guy. He was told to sit down, as the man with the jammed gun "was a doctor and didn't need help." Dad decided to find a safer area to wait to shoot.
The common thread here is "doctor" specifically "doctor of medicine." Being a doctor of medicine requires a huge amount of highly-specialized knowledge. This leads people (including the doctor) to think they are smart. Being a doctor does not, and may even contraindicate, having a broad knowledgebase. Doctors, in short, are very smart about a very limited range of subjects. They are not necessarily smart on things not related to medicine.
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Date: 2015-11-07 12:19 am (UTC)Surgeons
Date: 2015-11-10 12:54 am (UTC)I have no interest in voting for surgeons. I wouldn't mind a retired GP as a politician; except GPs don't retire.
Re: Surgeons
Date: 2015-11-10 01:41 am (UTC)