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PaperclipPerfector  3d ago (text post)   17873 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of March 31, 2025

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You should never trust a single study. Scott said it well “beware the man of a single study”

However there is a fair bit of research on racial concordance and how this improves healthcare outcomes. Apparently black people feel better about having black doctors and are more likely to adhere to their meds if a black doc prescribes them. Makes sense given how extreme the ingroup bias is among black people, so I don’t doubt the results. On the other hand, does this mean I as a white pefson can legitimately demand I have a white physician because that would make me feel more comfortable? No?

On the other hand, does this mean I as a white pefson can legitimately demand I have a white physician because that would make me feel more comfortable? No?

Tons of people pick a doctor on the basis of ‘bedside manner’ or otherwise feeling comfortable with the doctor. It’s everywhere.

Pick a doctor? Sir I don’t speak American, can you rephrase?

Where I’m from, you’re sometimes lucky to even have one at all. Mine is Filipino and I’m white. Which is fine, he seems pretty competent although truth be told I’d still rather a white doctor.

In American major cities people with good insurance usually have the ability to choose between several primary care physicians; crappy insurance means you’re stuck with the one who accepts it, rural areas means there’s probably only one nearby.

Most people with the ability to choose doctors are not going off of any sort of proxy for being good at doctoring. They tend to go off of bedside manner.

I believe that's usually attributed to Aquinas:

"Cave ab homine unius libri."

And, as I understand it, he meant it admiringly, in the Bruce Lee "I fear the man who has practiced one kick a thousand times, not the man who has practiced a thousand kicks one time" sort of way.

Interesting. I've heard others imagine it as a compliment as well. I always took it as a slight --the obsessive who can see no other perspective than his own. One of those quotes you can read however you want, I guess.

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