You can talk about gravity all you want, I don't care. (Not that I'm going to listen much anyway) But to ridicule the informed professional judgment of a Ph.D. in Physics about some aspect of gravity is not within your capability.

9/7/2005 2:33:06 PM

Of course its in my capability (granted I would need a good amount of time and resources).

I mean, I am a chemical engineer and I'm a couple of years away from getting a PE which is pretty much on par with an advanced degree.

If I can read and understand the material, forumulate a challenge, it is well within my grasp.

You place too much faith in expecting people with PhDs to be intelligent. Fact is some of them are just really good at studying and have zero application skills. Some of them are geniuses. But having a piece of paper does not validate intelligence.

[Edited on September 7, 2005 at 2:38 PM. Reason : ed]

9/7/2005 2:36:35 PM

Fair enough, assuming that you can make a reasoned argument. Before I had my J.D. I criticized sitting judges all the time. The point, however, is that people should not criticize experts unless they know what they're talking about and can make valid and sound reasoning. But you have to admit those two abilities are fairly rare around here on TWW.

And there should also be at least a minimum amount of qualification. You would not want to hear legal advice on the Rule Against Perpetuities from the guy at the Burger King window. A law student might be a little more qualified. A lawyer would be more so. You see what I mean, there is a minimum amount of qualification necessary before you are really given credibility.


[Edited on September 7, 2005 at 3:14 PM. Reason : add]

9/7/2005 3:10:17 PM

I'll agree with that, which is why I rarely comment on politics and law outside of a basic observation. I just don't know anything about those fields and have little interest in them.

With the whole Schiavo thing there was an abundant amount of medical opinions circulating available for the public to digest and it went on for a while. I won't say people are justified in making the criticism, but they weren't totally unfounded.


[Edited on September 7, 2005 at 3:18 PM. Reason : ed]

9/7/2005 3:13:32 PM

RIDUCKULOUS

9/7/2005 3:23:14 PM

Quote :

"Well if you don't have an M.D., why are you in a position to ridicule the medical diagnosis of a physician?"

HEY CHIEF

just becuase you have an MD doesnt mean you dont make mistakes,. also, if the criteria for that diagnosis is shown to be bullshit, then you can be in the position to criticize it,

BECAUSE we also have brains.

if we lived in world where you didnt question the experts, nothing would get done.




for example; if bill frist said

Quote :

"you cant get pregnant becuase of the sea serpents in your belly"

would you demand we not question him becuase he has an MD ?

[Edited on September 7, 2005 at 5:48 PM. Reason : 0]

9/7/2005 5:46:25 PM

I can't believe this blind support of Frist.

Oh wait.

Yes I can.

9/7/2005 9:13:29 PM

Quote :

"And by what authority do you make such a judgment? In other words, where did you go to medical school? I'm not insisting on a transcript or anything - just let me know where you got your M.D. from please? That should be simple enough"

So, going by that, an Arabian horse judge should be qualified for judging horses, not fucking emergencies and natural disasters.

9/8/2005 8:46:20 AM

If I were an MD

would I have the right to disagree with Frist?


For instance, basically all doctors would disagree with him.

9/8/2005 11:47:29 AM

^^^ Do you think I have "blind support for Frist"? Are you familiar with his recent announcement of support of scientific experiments on children? Does that seem like something, given my pro-life philosophies, that I would be apt to support?


^^ Bringing in other topics and irrelevancies to confuse the issue. At best that is a fallacy, and at worst it is intellectual dishonesty. In either case, it's not good.

^^^^ You have to have a minimum level of qualifications, as I said above. For example I am not qualified to dispute the expert opinion of a physicist about some aspect of physics, because I know nothing about physics. I am however qualified to dispute the opinion of someone about the law, or the Catholic faith, or whatever, because I am at least minimally qualified to speak about those topics.

^ Doctors can disagree on medical things. I disagree with your statement that all doctors would disagree with him. There are very qualified physicians on both sides of the issue - the question is not a "clear cut" thing.

[Edited on September 8, 2005 at 11:49 AM. Reason : add]

9/8/2005 11:48:32 AM

No, it really is.

9/8/2005 11:51:10 AM

On the contrary - there are Nobel laureates and many many many other qualified physicians supporting Frist's diagnosis, as well as many qualified physicians supporting the other side's diagnosis. That fact alone shows that it is not a clear cut issue. And without at least a minimal qualification in terms of medicine, I don't think some little college kid has the right to declare it a "clear cut issue".

9/8/2005 11:53:42 AM

whether or not Iraq has weapons of mass destruction isn't a clear cut issue either, I mean a country that has a world famous intellegence agency believes it does, who are you, some college kid, to say differently?

9/8/2005 12:03:27 PM

Quote :

"Contact with saliva, tears, or sweat has never been shown to result in transmission of HIV."

-The Centers for Disease Control

But what do they know, right?

The Shiavo thing was just as ridiculous. From the Washington Post:

Quote :

" Some medical professionals questioned the appropriateness of Frist challenging court-approved doctors who have treated Schiavo. Laurie Zoloth, director of bioethics for the Center for Genetic Medicine at Northwestern University, said she was surprised to hear Frist weigh in, given that he has not examined Schiavo. "It is extremely unusual -- and by a non-neurologist, I might add," Zoloth said in an interview. Were Frist rendering an official medical judgment, she said, relying on an "amateur video" could raise liability issues. After 15 years, "there should be no confusion about the medical data, and that's what was so surprising to me about Dr. Frist disagreeing about her medical status," Zoloth said. "

9/8/2005 12:11:49 PM