Gerd Gigerenzer
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- April 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780199390076
- eISBN:
- 9780190240684
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199390076.003.0005
- Subject:
- Psychology, Cognitive Psychology
Many doctors, patients, journalists, and politicians alike do not understand what health statistics mean, or they draw wrong conclusions without noticing. The causes of statistical illiteracy should ...
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Many doctors, patients, journalists, and politicians alike do not understand what health statistics mean, or they draw wrong conclusions without noticing. The causes of statistical illiteracy should not be attributed to cognitive biases alone, but to the emotional nature of the doctor–patient relationship and conflicts of interest in the health care system. As the chapter shows, many sources of medical information intentionally or uninentionally use nontransparent information to persuade individuals, with serious consequences for personal health. Without understanding the numbers involved, the public is susceptible to political and commercial manipulation of their anxieties and hopes, which undermines the goals of informed consent and shared decision making.Less
Many doctors, patients, journalists, and politicians alike do not understand what health statistics mean, or they draw wrong conclusions without noticing. The causes of statistical illiteracy should not be attributed to cognitive biases alone, but to the emotional nature of the doctor–patient relationship and conflicts of interest in the health care system. As the chapter shows, many sources of medical information intentionally or uninentionally use nontransparent information to persuade individuals, with serious consequences for personal health. Without understanding the numbers involved, the public is susceptible to political and commercial manipulation of their anxieties and hopes, which undermines the goals of informed consent and shared decision making.
