Would you entrust your health to a doctor or to a machine?
By ram_cv
@ram_cv (16513)
India
June 23, 2007 9:29pm CST
With rapid developments in computer aided diagnostics, it is becoming more common that machines can do the health analysis for you.
The pro side of this is things which are not visible to a doctor's naked eye can be seen by the machine and diagnosis can happen at an early stage when it is easier to cure.
The flip side is that as each human being is different in slight ways, the machine might pick these differences as anamolies and people can get treated for things which are not anamolies.
So what is your take on this, would you trust a human doctor or a mechanized doctor?
Cheers!
Ram
3 people like this
5 responses
@whyaskq (7523)
• Singapore
24 Jun 07
I would prefer to trust the doctor instead of a machine. I will make use of the machine to find out more information and do analysis. The doctor is in a better position to recommend a more suitable form of treatment based on the patient as he is a human being and can understand the human feeling. I would not trust a machine since it only process data and churns out information. However, where does the data and knowledge come from? Human beings!
1 person likes this
@ram_cv (16513)
• India
26 Jun 07
You are absolutely right that the knowledge and data come from humans. But, the fact remains that these days humans are so lured by money that the fact that a human being has to be treated well often goes into the backburner and the issue becomes how can we fleece the maximum of this sick human being!! That is what pisses me off the most with today's doctors. I agree that not all doctors are like this, but with the hospital culture growing up more and more doctors are getting converted to the so called Dark Side!!
Cheers!
Ram
1 person likes this
@whyaskq (7523)
• Singapore
26 Jun 07
That's why we need the machines to provide us information to help us take control of the situation and make sure the doctor is not able to fleece us - I would prefer to "tap" and "verify" what the doctor says instead of accepting his suggestion blindly.
1 person likes this
@2wicelot (2945)
•
24 Jun 07
Oh no, not all. May be in the future when they invent an emergency medical hologram like the one they have on star trek voyager. Until then, I would rather have a human being look after me. I have a feeling the machines are not quite ready for that task yet. I also hope they won't turn out like those machines in the matrix, LOL.
@desertdarlene (8910)
• United States
24 Jun 07
One thing I like about machines is that I know they aren't going to have any feelings about my body in any way. I don't feel the same about doctors because they are only human. But, you would definitely need doctors to interpret the data.
For me, I would welcome any machine that would make it easier to diagnose things without those embarrassing tests. Something like on Star Trek would be great. They just take a scanner and you can accurately see anything that's wrong down to the cellular level. Yes, we have MRIs and CT scans, but they are not all that accurate.
@ram_cv (16513)
• India
24 Jun 07
CT scans are though getting better and better these days. Siemens' Somatom Definition range of CT scans are the best of the best in the world today and can give such accurate information of the human body that hitherto unseen maladies can be spotted clearly.
But, a tricoder as in Star Trek would be a great device given it's size and utility!!
Cheers!
Ram
1 person likes this
@samtaylorskykierajen (7977)
• Canada
24 Jun 07
I would trust how I felt , if I was told that I had something seriously wrong with me but felt fine then I would probably go on my own judgement but would look to get a second opinion .
It would be nice if computer could pick up the difference in everyones chemical make up because it would be nice to not have to go to the doctors , if we could have a machine in our own house that would be able to scan us whenever we didn't feel well and would be able to diagose what the problem was . I am sure that someday this will be possible but until then we will have to go on what we are told when we go into a doctor and if we don't believe what we are told then we have to go for a second opinion .
1 person likes this
@ram_cv (16513)
• India
26 Jun 07
I guess you are already looking into the future. I guess that soon tricoders like in Star Trek might just be available commercially where in people can find out most of the maladies themselves without even going to a doctor. The doctor then would be required for more serious kind of diseases and maladies which cannot be treated at home.
Cheers!
Ram
