Diagnostic humility
From Ben Cormack, having a bit of a rant about pseudoscience and amateurism in back pain diagnosis:
“The worlds best researchers admit they can’t reliably diagnose [back pain], so why can you?”
People do constantly talk like they “know” what causes back pain, or at least have a very strong suspicion, and it’s almost always delusional. The specific mechanisms of back pain are mostly as impossible to know as what Bilbo had in his pocketses. We need a lot more diagnostic humility.
Like clockwork, when I boosted Ben's pro-humility sentiment on Facebook, someone instantly chimed in with the serious opinion that “It’s all energy!” I have many readers who might have posted that satirically, but this was 100% earnest reiki and psychic-healing propaganda: “Back pain starts with feelings and energy,” she insisted when politely challenged. 🤦🏻♂️