Falsifying Data Is Rampant Across Industries

[Pluripotent]

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This is absolutely true, but it doesn't seem to me that the level of expressed confidence on the part of doctors matches the level of justifiable confidence. It is rare that you hear people talk in as hedged and measured a manner as guys like Jordan and Austin. I have no issue with my doctor, dentist, or mechanic, for that matter, not having absolute concrete evidence to justify their recommendations, but I also would appreciate them not talking like they are privy to such knowledge when they are not

I understand what you are saying, and as much as I try to convey the nuances of medicine to patients and explain risk/benefit analysis, the reality is I get into way more trouble with this approach than the docs who just say, "this is how it is," with utter confidence and absent hedge.

Patients want you to be sure. They don't want choices, they want answers. And if you can't tell them with confidence things that you can't possibly know, they'll find someone else who will. I'm OK with that. Most docs aren't and are more than willing to play the part of the over confident narcissist. It's what patients want, after all. Until people stop rewarding narcissistic behavior with their praise and worship, instead of recognizing it for the personality disorder that it is, the world will continue to be ruled by these horrible people.

[timelinex]

Similar sentiment:
"We have managed to transfer religious belief into gullibility for whatever can masquerade as science." -Nicholas Nassim Taleb

Great to see a Taleb quote on this forum. His books would be great reading for alot of very dogmatic people on this forum (heck, its great reading for everyone).

[Scaldrew]

This is off-topic, but what the hell. I've always wondered about people who reflexively utter this phrase verbatem (with the occasional "what your REALLY think" added) in response to a stated opinion. Are you prompted to do so by the opinion itself, or by the perceived audacity of the expression of the opinion? Are you so uncomfortable with a confidently expressed opinion that you drag up this tired retort because you can't think of anything else to say, yet feel the need to say something even though the opinion itself is outside your scope? Being opinionated myself, I have been subjected to this countless times since I was a child, and I am always confused about it. I wonder where it was first used, if some public school teacher decided to promulgate its use, or if it first appeared in a movie I have't seen. Really, no shit: why do people say this????

The implication is that you're jealous or bitter or self-insecure and you feel the need to divert attention away from yourself by hating on something you actually like or would otherwise treat with indifference. I think lately it's uses also include a placeholder phrase where people readily accept your opinion, but are otherwise unsure as to how to respond but by saying something essentially meaningless as this. In this second use, it means simply "I acknowledge that this is your opinion and have nothing to add". Finally, when uttered ironically (smug grin optional), it can mean the same as the second use, but also add a hint of goading you into going on a rant. In effect, the speaker knows of the first use of the phrase and relies on the hearer to also know of it, so the phrase is uttered to provoke either a reaction or merely a continuation or reiteration of the strong opinion.

[Jonathon Sullivan]

Doc, you're forgetting Ayn Rand and objectivism. That was mid-20th century.

I said mostly harmless.

[ud2o]

This is off-topic, but what the hell. I've always wondered about people who reflexively utter this phrase verbatem (with the occasional "what your REALLY think" added) in response to a stated opinion. Are you prompted to do so by the opinion itself, or by the perceived audacity of the expression of the opinion? Are you so uncomfortable with a confidently expressed opinion that you drag up this tired retort because you can't think of anything else to say, yet feel the need to say something even though the opinion itself is outside your scope? Being opinionated myself, I have been subjected to this countless times since I was a child, and I am always confused about it. I wonder where it was first used, if some public school teacher decided to promulgate its use, or if it first appeared in a movie I have't seen. Really, no shit: why do people say this????

The #millennial iteration of this is to dismiss a strongly-held view expressed with vigor as a "hot take."

Thinking adults should have strong opinions about lots of things.

[Mark Rippetoe]

I said mostly harmless.

Yes, the Objectivists have been responsible for the deaths of several million people since the publication of The Fountainhead. They must be stopped.

[Jonathon Sullivan]

Yes, the Objectivists have been responsible for the deaths of several million people since the publication of The Fountainhead.

How did I miss that?

[Pluripotent]

The implication is that you're jealous or bitter or self-insecure and you feel the need to divert attention away from yourself by hating on something you actually like or would otherwise treat with indifference. I think lately it's uses also include a placeholder phrase where people readily accept your opinion, but are otherwise unsure as to how to respond but by saying something essentially meaningless as this. In this second use, it means simply "I acknowledge that this is your opinion and have nothing to add". Finally, when uttered ironically (smug grin optional), it can mean the same as the second use, but also add a hint of goading you into going on a rant. In effect, the speaker knows of the first use of the phrase and relies on the hearer to also know of it, so the phrase is uttered to provoke either a reaction or merely a continuation or reiteration of the strong opinion.

I always read it as reserved agreement tempered with shock that someone would actually speak their mind plainly. Apparently, stating your opinion frankly is just not something that polite people do. You're supposed to format it for general consumption...like using a feedback sandwich. Maybe a vegetarian feedback sandwich (without the meat).

[Mark Rippetoe]

How did I miss that?

You're not watching enough MSNBC.

[Jonathon Sullivan]

You're not watching enough MSNBC.

I own a gym. I don't watch TV.