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Assorted links
1. Seth Roberts on why people touch their mouths
2. Blogging vs. writing, an excellent piece
3. "Eternal, Maiden, Actualization," hat tip goes to my mother (hi mom!)
4. Interview with the very fetching Steven Pinker
5. Yes, medicine is backwards
Posted by Tyler Cowen on June 20, 2008 at 03:30 PM in Web/Tech | Permalink
Comments
Try to imagine a scenario in which a bank that uses paper records still survived. Give it a shot.
But why? Why compare a 3-doctor office to a bank? Why does that make sense? Why not compare it to another business that employs a couple of professionals and some support staff, like a CPA's office, or a small law office, or something?
That seems like the relevant comparison.
Posted by: Bob Montgomery at Jun 20, 2008 3:50:23 PM
"... the very fetching Steven Pinker."
Well, he is the founding inspiration for the Luxuriant Flowing Hair Club for Scientists.
Posted by: matt at Jun 20, 2008 3:53:51 PM
medical records - why not adopt the British system - make 'em electronic and then leave 'em on the train.
Posted by: dearieme at Jun 20, 2008 4:05:05 PM
tyler, is your mom a regular reader of Tech Amok? chug
Posted by: chug at Jun 20, 2008 4:08:04 PM
If the makers of the EMA can get it to give head they have a killer product on their hands.
Posted by: loki on the run at Jun 20, 2008 4:40:52 PM
Medicine is backwards or backward?
Electronic records is to medicine as health insurance is to health care.
As in, not synonymous, and a great whipping post for the left. Something easy to harp, which one can address and feel like they are doing something.
"Try to imagine a scenario in which a bank that uses paper records still survived." Okay, just did. It would be a local bank, probably give excellent personalized service. Probably wouldn't have quadrillions in losses on CDOs. Oh, and how are banks and doctor's offices similar? I can think of a lot of differences. As in numbers versus physiology, etc. Basic scientific research relies on paper records and seems to do okay. It's 2008 and there still isn't a good electronic capture system. Think books are to Kindle as taking notes is to...what? So, I can imagine why medicine could get worse in the short term if doctors had to use a suboptimal electronic capture device.
People die because of the lack of electronic records? Maybe. Top ten list of problems?
The problem with medical records is ownership. Not the proliferation provided by electronifying, but the number of interested and qualified people really looking at them.
So, even if medical records is the answer, the problem is one of adoption. You could subsidize small office's conversion. Or, hospitals could charge for electronifornication when a patient is admitted. These folks are all problems and no solutions. Give them credit for finding a no-brainer inevitability and jumping in to lead the parade.
Posted by: Andrew at Jun 20, 2008 4:57:25 PM
Seth Roberts on "why people touch their mouths" is probably the dumbest link I have ever seen on this blog, but he recommends your new book quite prominently on his site so it makes sense.
Posted by: James at Jun 20, 2008 9:56:53 PM
That, and two days ago Seth Roberts referenced a Tyler Cowen blog post in a post of his own. It would be interesting to look at this incestuous relationship between bloggers and their frequency.
Posted by: James at Jun 20, 2008 10:18:22 PM
James,
Seth Roberts poses an interesting question, and although I agree with you that he singularly fails to answer it, the question remains interesting. It's a typical quirky MR topic, and perhaps some of the erudite folks who hang out here will offer their own creatively batty theories.
Personally, I think sitting in situations of semi-boredom often involves propping up your head with your hand. In this situation, fingers are naturally "at hand" in near proximity to your mouth.
Posted by: at Jun 20, 2008 10:57:28 PM
"Blogging vs. writing, an excellent piece" is indeed excellent. Some gems:
"There is relatively little fiction and poetry online, by which I mean, fiction and poetry that is native to that environment, written with the intention of being read there."
"I would say that writing on the internet tends to be more popular when it satisfies the reader's wish to be connected—the wish not to miss out. The writer, too, may have such a wish."
"There is a greater tolerance online for sloppy and inexact writing—not merely for typos but for a generalized kludginess of thought, especially the errors that the usage stickler H. W. Fowler named "haziness," "swapping horses," and "unequal yokefellows," which may all be loosely described as changing your mind about the grammatical structure of a sentence halfway through writing it—and such tolerance is to be expected if people are reading primarily for the sake of a feeling of belonging."
"Reading online does not seem to me to be a pleasure in itself but a response to irritation."
"Through web browsing, the freelancer communes with the procrastinating office drone—at his peril, because the freelancer receives no weekly paycheck."
"The internet's killer app, as the onetime internet mogul Michael Wolff once said, is eavesdropping. It's impossible to screen one's audience, and almost impossible to release information about oneself selectively."
"Writing is not refined by a conscious or half-conscious effort to look sloppy. The moral aspect is more complicated."
Posted by: P_Rank at Jun 22, 2008 11:54:46 AM
