Funtabulously Frivolous Friday Five 142

Just when you thought your brain could unwind on a Friday, you realise that it would rather be challenged with some good old fashioned medical trivia FFFF…introducing Funtabulously Frivolous Friday Five 142 Question 1 We’ve all heard of Occam’s Razor but what is Hickam’s Dictum or the Anti-razor? + Reveal the Funtabulous Answer expand(document.getElementById('ddet172338752'));expand(document.getElementById('ddetlink172338752')) A patient can have as many diseases as they damn well please. Occam’s razor can be paraphrased ‘when investigating a patient with multiple symptoms, a single unifying diagnosis should be sought’ Hickam’s Dictum was a response when one single unifying diagnosis is not possible. Dr John Hickam was a faculty member at Duke University in the 1950s. [Reference] Hickam was not the first to question William of Ockham as Walter Chatton a theologian and philosopher (c.1290 – 1343) often sparred with William and came up with the “anti-razor“. Chatton proposed: “Whenever an affirmative proposition is apt to be verified for actually existing things, if two things, howsoever they are present according to arrangement and duration, cannot suffice for the verification of the proposition while another thing is lacking, then one must posit that other thing”. I.e. if occam’s razor does not satisfactorily determine the truth, another explanation is required. [Reference]   Question...
Source: Life in the Fast Lane - Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: Tags: Frivolous Friday Five abarognosis anti-razor Crabtree's bludgeon hickam's dictum life expectancy occam's razor Rene Laennec Stethoscope Source Type: blogs