Go Ahead, Google Your Symptoms
Curiosity Weekly
Warner Bros. Discovery
4.6 • 963 Ratings
🗓️ 12 May 2021
⏱️ 13 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Learn about the benefits of Googling symptoms; truly random number generation; and why science is about storytelling.
Googling symptoms makes patients better at self-diagnosis by Steffie Drucker
- A visit to “Dr. Google” makes patients better at diagnosis. (2021). EurekAlert! https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2021-03/bawh-avt032621.php
- Levine, D. M., & Mehrotra, A. (2021). Assessment of Diagnosis and Triage in Validated Case Vignettes Among Nonphysicians Before and After Internet Search. JAMA Network Open, 4(3), e213287. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.3287
- Why this doctor wants you to consult with “Dr. Google” to help diagnose your symptoms. (2021, April). CBC. https://www.cbc.ca/radio/asithappens/as-it-happens-tuesday-edition-1.5969736/why-this-doctor-wants-you-to-consult-with-dr-google-to-help-diagnose-your-symptoms-1.5971609
Why Computers Can Never Generate Truly Random Numbers by Ashley Hamer
- Mads Haahr. (n.d.). Introduction to Randomness and Random Numbers. Random.org. https://www.random.org/randomness/
- DeMichele, T. (2015, November 21). Computers Can Generate True Random Numbers - Fact or Myth? Fact / Myth. http://factmyth.com/factoids/computers-can-generate-true-random-numbers/
Additional resources from Chanda Prescod-Weinstein:
- Pick up "The Disordered Cosmos: A Journey into Dark Matter, Spacetime, & Dreams Deferred" on Amazon: https://amzn.to/32JjzDu
- Website: http://www.cprescodweinstein.com/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/IBJIYONGI
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hi, you're about to get smarter in just a few minutes with Curiosity Daily from Curiosity.com. |
| 0:06.4 | I'm Cody Goff. |
| 0:07.4 | And I'm Ashley Hamer. |
| 0:08.4 | Today you learn about how googling symptoms makes patients better at self-diagnosis and why computers can't generate |
| 0:15.1 | truly random numbers. Then physics professor and author Dr. Chonda Prescodd |
| 0:20.0 | Weinstein will explain why science is all about storytelling. |
| 0:24.0 | Let's satisfy some curiosity. |
| 0:27.0 | Listen, we've all done it. |
| 0:29.0 | As soon as something feels slightly off in your body, |
| 0:32.0 | you ask the internet what the problem could be. |
| 0:35.0 | Suddenly, that slight ache could be a sign of cancer, and your anxiety goes through the roof. |
| 0:40.8 | Oh no! |
| 0:42.3 | So for that reason, many people, doctors included, discourage consulting |
| 0:47.6 | Dr. Google. But a new study suggests that googling your symptoms might not be a bad idea and it could actually |
| 0:54.9 | improve your diagnostic skills. For the study, researchers from Brigham and Women's |
| 1:00.6 | Hospital and Harvard Medical School had 5,000 people read through a hypothetical |
| 1:05.3 | set of symptoms and pretend the patient was someone there close to. |
| 1:09.8 | The symptoms ranged from mild to severe and were associated with common medical problems like viral infections, heart attacks, and stroke. |
| 1:17.0 | Then, with no help from the internet, the participants were asked to make a diagnosis and decide how urgently their loved one needed treatment. |
| 1:26.2 | Only then were they allowed to Google. |
| 1:29.6 | After researching the symptoms online, the participants could make a new diagnosis and give |
| 1:34.5 | updated treatment advice. They also reported how anxious they felt before and |
... |
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