Given the controversy over race-based medical profiling, i can’t help but wonder when it’s good or bad to use stereotyping, both in medicine and beyond. Could you imagine a doctor that didn’t ask if you were a (fe)male? Could i imagine having a colonoscopy for equality’s sake? Hmm… On the other hand, the joke at MIT is that the doctors will always ask if you are pregnant – i wonder if they ask the boys that…
I guess i really don’t have a problem with being treated differently for having different body parts, or for fitting into different risk categories. At my age, they have a list of possible failures that they look for. Based on my historical health, my sex, my family’s previous health, my age, etc… they create a list of stereotypes that they check for when dealing with my health. That seems reasonable, even if i despise the medical industry. Why not race?
The problem that i see is not whether or not they use stereotypes to give me better quality services given good statistics; the problem occurs when i am treated unequally or not given services or charged more or not given insurance or … Stereotypes are not inherently evil; it is their uses that we must evaluate.
[cypherpunk login for nytimes: c1ph3rpunk/c1ph3rpunk]
why not race?
because it is a sociological construct and correlates more strongly with stereotypes than genetics and health-relevant environmental factors.
it’s a poor approximation to genetic screening and systemic, holistic analysis, and is driven by the human need for a fast, easy, and immediately cheap decision. it promotes the worst forms of short-sightedness.