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0 pointsroenxi2y ago0 comments

It is nonsensical as thought experiments go; we're comparing two things that can't be compared. But just for fun - if we existed in a world with no medicine and the internet, we'd be able to rediscover modern medicine extremely quickly. We might reasonably expect to get further than the current state of the art, in fact, because the initial wild west phase wouldn't be encumbered by overzealous safety regulation and we'd learn more before the legislatures of the world start shutting it down (especially since the baseline would be so horrific, they'd probably have tougher stomachs for some broken eggs while making omelettes).

We ran the reverse (medicine then internet) and it took a long time to get to the internet.

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RandomLensman2y ago· 2 in thread

Why would we discover modern medicine quickly just because we have the internet? There is no reason to assume some of the concepts needed would just happen to spring up because of a cacophony of voices on the Internet (and a lot of collaborators would die while you work with them). It could even be bad for progress as all problems get broadcast, loud but wrong voices get huge amplification, etc.

The quote also is including all medicine, not just modern. Cold starting medicine then feels very hard.

Btw, early modern medicine was pretty much unencumbered by regulation - so there would be little change.

roenxiOP2y ago

It isn't the number of voices; it is the speed and cost of setting up special interest communities. A bunch of health freaks with a penchant for experimentation would get together and start learning things. Not an overnight process but it'd be insanely quick compared to the sluggish speed of the last few millennia.

> Btw, early modern medicine was pretty much unencumbered by regulation - so there would be little change.

Not so; the early work was encumbered by rules against graverobbing. There were some famous advances made by .. someone who's name I do not recall, but he'd have been in trouble if people knew what he was up to.

RandomLensman2y ago

Yes, there were some rules holding back anatomy to some extent at certain times, but really pretty much free for all in a lot of other areas.

Those health freaks would do the right things why? Why would other communities not seek to stop or block them from doing what they are doing (these experiments would have at times pretty dire consequences)? Why would there be zero rules for what those health freaks are doing? There is just no reason to assume this would just work out.

Why hasn't the internet brought insane advances in science if it is such a force multiplier for it?

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verinus2y ago

science was there long before the internet, and if history teaches us one thing it is, that gaining fundamental knowledge takes time- often generations (where one generation must die for new ideas to spread)

so no, the internet may be good for lots of things, but it would by no means replace the groundwork required over centuries to come up with modern medicine...

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