Hacker News Reader

HNHacker News

Top New Best Ask Show Jobs

Comment by _jal | Hacker News Reader

Parent Full thread

_jal·

> Why do I have a feeling that if we deployed computer scientists at medical research we would get a better result?

Because comp sci has an arrogance problem that rivals that of doctors?

View on HN

> Because comp sci has an arrogance problem that rivals that of doctors?

Nailed it!

The only difference (from my perspective of course) is comp sci arrogance is directed towards our field and associated methodologies, principles, etc. Doctors direct their arrogance towards themselves.

This generalization is pretty large and may itself be an example of arrogance. But I think maybe it's just the brevity of your comment that gives this impression.

Thanks for being charitable, I did not mean to imply that what I claim many comp sci people do is any better or less arrogant, just different.

It implies you know what doctors do about as well as you know what comp sci people do, by virtue of comparing the two. The comp sci part is at risk of taking your anecdotal experience as too representative of the whole. The doctor part is (presumably) at risk of relying on stereotypes about doctors having "God complexes" ... So to get to an effective general comparison would be quite difficult without more accurate data. Buuut if we see ourselves as smart computer people, maybe we think more highly of our own inferences than they deserve. I would expect doctors' arrogance has a lot to do with their training and respect for their processes and practices as being highly reliable and advanced. Rather than them personally just having a talent for doctoring.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com