Research

My friend VW was amazed with the advance in medical research and the number of prediction score appearing in the literature (see http://vwswong.blogspot.com/2009/10/prophesy.html). On the contrary, I think the phenomenon is quite natural.

Alas, it is the direct consequence of the software that every medical school uses to monitor the activity of their academic staff (a vivid example is the discussion between Obotchaman and myself a few days ago).

I shall give you a slightly tortuous explanation.

First, let's ask a plain simple question to any layman, "What is your idea of medical research ?"

The usual answer would be, "The professor has designed a new treatment; he gives it to some patients and see if it works - presumably by comparing to another group treated by the conventional method."

Alas, that's a romantic idea, works well in Utopia.