An Arms Race for Not-Being-On-Dialysis
So my blog muse strikes again, linking to this insane post by Robin Hanson. I may write a sober refutation at some point, but I don't think the post deserves one. I will instead focus on a particular claim, one that I think is not incidental but rather indicative of Hanson's overall ridiculousness and unseriousness. Sarang used the term "unhinged" to describe a right-wing assertion the other day, and the word seems to fit this one perfectly.
The gist is that Hanson is upset that a wealthy entrepreneur gave money to charity, thus "pissing it away." Hanson illuminates his (her?) point by noting that the entrepreneur (Alex Grass) apparently donated money to a hospital. This constitutes pissing money away because medicine is mainly a wasteful signal - we already have too much of it.
Hanson doesn't actually specify which medical procedures or products constitute wasteful signaling, but I think we all know some of the big culprits. Number one on my list would be the antibiotics that transplant recipients take because their immune systems are compromised. Why are their immune systems compromised, you ask? Get this - they actually take drugs called immunosuppressants, which are exactly what they sound like. You read that right: these assholes take drugs to weaken their own immune systems, and then take another drug to prevent infection. All because they're scared of something called "rejection." Listen, we're all scared of rejection. I've got a suggestion, morons: stop pissing away society's resources on wasteful signals.
Plenty of other wasteful examples come to mind: antiretrovirals, chemotherapy, antipsychotics, artificial limbs, neonatal intensive care units, and skin grafts. I could go on. Blood transfusions are basically redistribution from the healthy (what we used to call "successful") to the sick and maimed. Did you know that there are drugs to treat high blood pressure and drugs to treat low blood pressure? Make up your mind!
But in a way I'm wasting my time with these examples. I think it's fairly obvious that the field of medicine is mainly a wasteful signal. The larger point is how galling it is that "philanthropists" waste their money providing medical care to people who otherwise couldn't afford it. If you must piss away society's resources on something like a bone marrow transplant, for God's sake, do it on your own dime.
The gist is that Hanson is upset that a wealthy entrepreneur gave money to charity, thus "pissing it away." Hanson illuminates his (her?) point by noting that the entrepreneur (Alex Grass) apparently donated money to a hospital. This constitutes pissing money away because medicine is mainly a wasteful signal - we already have too much of it.
Hanson doesn't actually specify which medical procedures or products constitute wasteful signaling, but I think we all know some of the big culprits. Number one on my list would be the antibiotics that transplant recipients take because their immune systems are compromised. Why are their immune systems compromised, you ask? Get this - they actually take drugs called immunosuppressants, which are exactly what they sound like. You read that right: these assholes take drugs to weaken their own immune systems, and then take another drug to prevent infection. All because they're scared of something called "rejection." Listen, we're all scared of rejection. I've got a suggestion, morons: stop pissing away society's resources on wasteful signals.
Plenty of other wasteful examples come to mind: antiretrovirals, chemotherapy, antipsychotics, artificial limbs, neonatal intensive care units, and skin grafts. I could go on. Blood transfusions are basically redistribution from the healthy (what we used to call "successful") to the sick and maimed. Did you know that there are drugs to treat high blood pressure and drugs to treat low blood pressure? Make up your mind!
But in a way I'm wasting my time with these examples. I think it's fairly obvious that the field of medicine is mainly a wasteful signal. The larger point is how galling it is that "philanthropists" waste their money providing medical care to people who otherwise couldn't afford it. If you must piss away society's resources on something like a bone marrow transplant, for God's sake, do it on your own dime.
posted by James | 9:07 PM
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