hospital in Lincoln, Nebraska, my grandfather’s town. And, with that permissive

quality control for which community hospitals are famous, many years after this

surgeon should’ve been removed from the medical staff, he was. One of the

doctors who participated in the removal was a family friend, and I asked him:

“Did this surgeon think, ‘Here’s a way for me to exercise my talents’—this guy

was very skilled technically—‘and make a high living by doing a few maimings and

murders every year in the course of routine fraud?’” And my friend answered:

“Hell no, Charlie. He thought that the gall bladder was the source of all

medical evil, and, if you really loved your patients, you couldn’t get that

organ out rapidly enough.”

 

Now that’s an extreme case, but in lesser strength, the cognitive drift of that

surgeon is present in every profession and in every human being. And it causes

perfectly terrible behavior. Consider the presentations of brokers selling

commercial real estate and businesses. I’ve never seen one that I thought was

even within hailing distance of objective truth. In my long life, I have never

seen a management consultant’s report that didn’t end with the same advice:

“This problem needs more management consulting services.” Widespread

incentive-caused bias requires that one should often distrust, or take with a

grain of salt, the advice of one’s professional advisor, even if he is an

engineer. The general antidotes here are: (1) especially fear professional

advice when it is especially good for the advisor; (2) learn and use the basic

elements of your advisor’s trade as you deal with your advisor; and (3) double

check, disbelieve, or replace much of what you’re told, to the degree that seems

appropriate after objective thought.