Understand that the utility of a medical screening test depends on your prior probability of having a disease (e.g., genetic risk). A positive test result updates your likelihood, but its significance varies greatly based on your initial risk, not just the test’s sensitivity.
When evaluating diagnostic tests, prioritize high negative predictive value (specificity) to avoid false negatives, meaning you never want someone with cancer to be told they don’t have it. You can tolerate some false positives (people without cancer told they do) if the follow-up is manageable.
Combine different screening tools, like mammography, DWI MRI, and future liquid biopsies, to leverage each test’s strengths and weaknesses. Use liquid biopsies as confirmation rather than leading candidates, especially for conditions requiring invasive follow-up.
When encountering a new subject, prioritize understanding its theoretical framework or ‘skeleton’ rather than getting lost in details. This approach helps grasp the underlying structure and how things work.
Instead of teaching curiosity, focus on not stifling it, as children are born with it. Avoid sanctioning questions or ‘why’ questions to foster an environment where their natural inclination to understand is fed, not suppressed.
When learning an instrument or any skill, start by playing around and exploring without a rigid framework before introducing theory. Theory becomes an ‘amazing gift’ that answers questions you’ve already encountered through exploration, rather than an imprisoning set of rules.
Embrace learning technical skills in any creative field, as they provide ‘more colors to paint with’ and expand expressive options without diminishing authenticity. It doesn’t cost anything to gain more ways to articulate your ideas.
Approach singing by thinking of it as ‘musical speaking,’ controlling pitch deliberately. This mental reframing can make learning to sing easier and improve vocal control, similar to how physical activities are mastered.
Focus efforts and investments on reducing suffering from preventable diseases and conditions that afflict people prematurely or in the second half of life. This pragmatic approach addresses immediate human health challenges.
When assessing new technologies like genomics or blockchain, recognize that their short-term impact is often overestimated, while their long-term, transformative potential is frequently underestimated. Focus on the collective intelligence and effort being directed towards the technology.
Physicians and the community should actively work to streamline the process by which definitive scientific advancements, like new medical treatments, become standard of care for all patients everywhere, overcoming bureaucratic hurdles.
For children learning drums, emphasize that they don’t necessarily need to know musical material as well as other instrumentalists. As long as they can quickly learn or figure out a beat, they can play along, which can make it more enjoyable and less practice-intensive.
If you are a ‘genius’ or have an interesting, novel idea that could be deemed genius, reach out to D.A. Wallach via his Twitter (@DAWallach), Instagram (@DAWallach), or website (DAWallach.com).
Explore D.A. Wallach’s music by listening to his most recent solo album, ‘Time Machine,’ which was released around 2016.
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