Good intentions can lead to significant blind spots across various fields due to group think and herd mentality. Individuals often align their thinking with senior figures and traditional teachings, causing a resistance to new ideas and favoring initial information over logical reasoning. This cognitive bias, well-documented by experts like Leon Festinger, highlights the challenge of adapting to new perspectives in disciplines, including medical science.
Johns Hopkins surgeon Dr. Marty Makary talks about his book Blind Spots with EconTalk's Russ Roberts. Makary argues that the medical establishment too often makes unsupported recommendations for treatment while condemning treatments and approaches that can make us healthier. This is a sobering and informative exploration of a number of key findings in medicine that turned out to be wrong and based on insufficient evidence.