[Sigia-l] TMI - and expert-level knowledge

[Listera]

John O'Donovan:

> So are we starting to consider doctors under pressure as logical,
> decision making machines that have to work on rules based deduction from
> a set of limited information?

That pretty much describes ER doctors.

I'd imagine what one would want in an ER doctor is not necessarily
depth/breath of info but the ability to rapidly diagnose and prescribe.
After all, a perfect diagnosis, however ingenious it may be, is of little
use after one's dead. (Neither is a deadly wrong diagnosis in time, of
course.:-)

I'm not sure if this is all/just rules-based, though. What's hard is not
learning all the rules but the speed with which you can chain an arbitrary
selection of them in very specific circumstances under duress. Gladwell (in
a book whose title I can't mention) essentially argues practice makes
perfect. Quantitative collection of info makes a qualitative jump in wisdom.

Ziya
Nullius in Verba