I was talking to a retired doctor at the gym on Sunday. I am a big fan of experience and knowledge and those being based on time.

We were talking kids and doctors and prescriptions and the internet and some of everything. One of the older guys mentioned that doctors were once held in a much higher regard. And another mentioned pills seem to be the answer for everything.

The retired doctor chimed in and I thought what he said was sort of enlightening. I was the youngest in the group at 56 so he was talking to my age group and older.

In so many words.....there is only one generation that has been born in the internet age with any and all information at their finger tips. For the most part, anyone 30 and under was born with the same access to medical information as their doctors. We never had that. In the 70's and 80's we had a set of the 1978 World Book Encyclopedias, the school library and the public library. Our medicinal knowledge was limited to those resources. The person that went off to medical school had accesses we did not have and thus were on another level. When someone knows something you don't, and uses that knowledge to help you, especially in a time of need, they get to another level really quickly. Once the doctor gets to that next level his word is not only golden but it becomes the gospel. Then overtime Big Pharma and Big Insurance starts their version of "practicing medicine" and that money started to dictate patient care. When their world is the gospel and the newer method is to prescribe pills the unknowing went with what they have trusted. To refer to those people as 'sheep' is really an unfair criticism.

Fast forward to the groups (around age 40's and up) who have internet access for a large portion of their lives there is the movements away from the norm (carnivore being one).

Doctors in turn trained new doctors, kids trusted their parents/grandparents and in most cases learned to trust the people (doctors) that their parents trusted.

It was almost the perfect storm. As the internet becomes more and more of a factor in everyday life there is a break from the norms and people are challenging doctors and medicine because they now have access to the very same information as everyone else. Taht has not always been the case. The playing field is more level now than ever and people can now arm themselves with knowledge and information that actually rivals that of their doctors.

It was an interesting conversation. Sort of a new perspective.

Scott

On 8/12/2025 at 1:41 PM, Scott F. said:

It was an interesting conversation. Sort of a new perspective.

Yes indeed, and it makes a lot of sense. I myself as well as many others are quite capable of reading and interpreting studies on pubmed and other resources and in doing so have been able to 'enlighten' our doctors from time to time, if and when they are humble enough to listen.

I met a cardiologist the other day. Ultrasonic inspection. He was nice and polite -but everything was about cholesterol and cholesterol medication. Diet was never mentioned, he did not comment my weight loss in any way either. 67 lbs gone in eight months.

Cholesterol number is the Gospel. I did not comment much at all.

Good new is that my heart has not gotten any worse.

That is a very great observation from the doctor. Another thing to consider is the introduction to AI. I wonder what the true impact will be for this younger generation who grows up with AI as the norm. Even quicker access to information that requires less time to research the topics I would presume is one impact.

They will get smarter in one sense but will fade in the ability to think critically.

I try not to knock on the kids today, as they are our future, but here are my pet peeve examples.

Few true car guys left at the auto parts stores. If it does not pop out on the computer, it is obvious that part does not exist. The other day I watched a kid struggle with a parts catalog trying to cross reference one brand gasket for another. It was a real struggle. He stepped back, pulled his phone out, let Google/ChatGPT do the magic, got the answer and entered that in his computer.

Fortunately, and unfortunately at the same time, he will be able to that faster next time but if he does not have his phone he is as lost as last year's easter egg. Still has no idea how to use the cross-reference catalog.

Part of life is struggling. People learn from struggling, learn to work thru and work out all kinds of situations. This is what builds their foundation as they go thru life. With a solid foundation you can only fall so far, which makes getting back up a tad bit easier. With AI and such so many of those simple foundation building experiences will never be had. My god son sounds as intelligent as any 16 year old out there. He knows the answer to most anything you can ask him. He knows cars and engines like he grew up in the fifties building those first hot rods. Thru the internet, he knows it all. When I ask for a wrench or to actually use a hammer to drive a nail, he struggles. He knows the answer in words but can't answer with actions.

But this is the direction the world is travelling. Seems scary to me, but I'm an old 56, and a not so tech savvy 56 at that.

Scott