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Although doctors pride themselves on practicing evidence-based medicine, not everything that happens in a hospital or clinic is supported by science. Do health care providers always act based on logic?
We Americans imagine that we are (usually) rational and make decisions based on analysis and thoughtful consideration. But behavioral economics suggests we are swayed by many factors that are (usually) out of our awareness and sometimes not in our best interests.
Dr. Dan Ariely got interested in irrational behavior when he himself was a patient in a burn unit. What can we learn from his painful experience?
Guest: Dan Ariely, PhD, is the James B. Duke Professor of Behavioral Economics at Duke University.
He is the author of Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions.
Web site: http://www.predictablyirrational.com
Did you enjoy this radio show? Average rating: 5/5 (3 votes)
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Dan is right on target. If we can figure out how to get people to be healthier, then we can really lower health care costs. President Obama got it wrong when he said we follow our doctor advice. I know I eat more than what would be needed for my ideal weight. Also, I don't know of any doctor that wants someone to smoke, but some people do. We really won't get anywhere until we confront this.
I am listening to a delayed broadcast of the July 18 show (I suppose) on Mississippi Public Broadcasting, so I don't suppose I can e-mail to you in real time, so . . . in listening to your guest, Dr. Dan Ariely, and his statement that it appeared, experimentally, that persons who suffered acute pain from serious trauma tended to have higher pain thresholds. I can offer some anecdotal evidence in support of this.
When I was a toddler (18 mos or so I have been told, I have no memory of the incident) I too was burned, scalded, actually, with a pot of boiling water that cascaded over my head and upper torso (quite by accident, again so I've been told). I have what I would characterize as a high pain threshold, and I never put the two together.
I don't enjoy pain, but I don't worry about it too much, either. As a grade school student, I was afraid of hypos, and so when I went to the dentist, I would decline a novocaine shot because I would at that time rather face the drill than the imagined pain of a needle to the gum.
I enjoyed the show. As I age, I am experiencing what I would call chronic pains that are obnoxious, but I don't think my high threshold for pain has diminished as a result.
Thanks for the show. I also wanted to thank you for the mustard treatment for muscle cramps and acid stomach. I would never have put mustard together with cramp relief and certainly not with easing an acid stomach. You and your show are more helpful than any other. I am a fan.
Thanks again.
I enjoyed this segment. More work is needed to get the correct health care to all, not what the specialty delivers or the fear of lawsuits provides.