Internet List Lemmings

I posted this a while back on an EMS list. I think it bears discussion.


Is it just me, or are a lot of people on this list lemmings? I've noticed that when certain people on this list say something, the vast majority of people accept their word as gospel truth.

I've never heard a great deal of clamoring for an EMS Commission outside of a few people, yet once certain people become in favor of it, people magically become in favor of it. The same can be said of recent discussions about movie medics and other topics.

This is exactly why I'm in favor of a liberal arts education being incorporated into the paramedic curriculum. In my opinion, a liberal arts education provides the critical thinking and communications skills to recognize when someone is right -- or when they're just full of it. Heck, I also favor everyone taking a statistics course, not to learn how to do statistics, but to be an intelligent "consumer" of statistical information. Every medic should also take a course in research design and the scientific method to learn how to recognize "good" research as opposed to "bad" research.

For those people on this list who propose their own ideas, keep doing it. I may not support you always, but the free exchange of ideas is what advances our science and profession. For those of you who instinctively agree with ANYONE, ask yourself why you follow the "leader" without question. A lot of Germans in the 1930s and 1940s were blind followers as well.

Professionally yours,

Wes