Balance

In a such question of life or death, why should we be affected by the wordings?

No, we should go back one step and ask: Is it merely the effect of framing?

The problem is, in the “peak-and-end” model, as well as the cold water immersion experiment, the parameter being assessed has only one dimension. A person suffers, and we assess how he values his suffering and makes decision – and same for enjoyment. But, in real life, we have both at the same time, and our decision on accepting a treatment depends on the balance of the two. As Daniel Kahneman points out, the factors are not put on the two sides of a balance and cross out each other.

Unfortunately, in the context of medical decision, Kahneman’s doctrine of loss-aversion does not hold either. (I must admit I am not aware of any experimental proof of my suggestion, but it seems consistent with what we observe everyday.) In general, people do not avoid loss (that is, suffering) even if the gain (pleasure or enjoyment) is minimal. The respiratory drive of many patients is not the degree of joy or excitement some time later, but an imprinted idea that could not be easily appreciated by an outsider (for example, graduation of one’s children, completion of a book, or conclusion of a lawsuit).

In Buddhism, we call that obsession (執念).