Saturday, April 12, 2008

Simplify versus complexify

Many doctors take great pride is using jargon and polysyllabic words. Doctors do this for two reasons. One, in order to impress their patients that medical science is a very complex topic ; that they are the experts ; and therefore patients should let them make the decisions. As Nicklaus Wirth, Professor of Computer Science said, “ People seem to misinterpret complexity as sophistication.” I think the second reason is that often they are confused themselves because they have not taken the trouble to think things through clearly. I believe that complexity signifies confusion in the mind of the doctor – and this confusion creates more confusion in the mind of the patient .

Simplicity is good. A true expert should be able to explain anything , no matter how complex it
is ! An excellent example from whom we can all learn is Richard Feynman, and I'd strongly encourage anyone who wants to be able to explain complex concepts clearly to read his writing.

The message is simple . If you cannot understand what your doctor is saying the fault is likely to be his , not yours !

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