So we get so worked up over this stuff, and for good reason. But personally I'm taking another stance...

let them..

It's not my choice to make someone understand what's best for an individual or as a group. Let them make these decisions, and learn for themselves. Will this cause issues where I am at risk of getting measles? Or that kids could get sick over non pasteurized milk? yes, but we're back in a place where people have to feel the pain.

That's not to judge, or belittle or put anyone down. There's people who have views and values that conflict and that's OK.. Even if it's not the best for us a whole.

People can feel the pain without drawing the right conclusions to rectify the situation. For centuries people thought bad things happened because the gods were displeased. Some still do.

“Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so.”

Douglas Adams

I can understand your viewpoint, but I don't think I could bring myself to agree with you.

Healthcare is a necessary service. The healthy foods website that RFK Jr set up was recently in the news for describing the "best foods to put up your ass". That's the technology that's being advocated for here. There's no quality bar. There's no regulation on accuracy. It's almost certainly the case that if you meet with an AI avatar, you couldn't sue its operator for medical malpractice.

The issue, fundamentally, isn't that you're giving people a choice. It's that this will be the only choice. If healthcare companies don't need to open offices in rural locations, they won't. Even if you're fine with this technology, it'll quickly become the case that it's the only option many people have regardless of whether they want it or not.

I read a thread of stories today about people's parents using technology. One person's mom tried searching for energy drink ingredients and accidentally registered her house as a business on Google Maps. These are the people who are suddenly going to have to interface with an AI avatar about their health. We're replacing medical professionals with a glorified phone tree with RAG search. It's literally going to kill people who don't have a choice.

I agree with this, but think of in more of an evolutionary lens.

I've come to the place where every time we think we have solved a problem, we may not have and have created a new tree of problems.

I am one of those knuckle heads that decided to give carnivore diet a try, and my wife and I have had amazing results on a number of metrics. We were also not even eating junk food or that much processed food.

The sheer complexity of how we live demands humility, and in many ways the skeptics have valids point in many ways.

I look to the Amish, for example, as a way that probably not that bad to live considering how much of the modern world has problems.

At core, some people choose to be experiments, and some decide to the control. This is the reality I believe, and this is how the whole remains robust over the long term.

"The common people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard."

So the system is corrupted by money and influence and your idea is to "let the people feel the pain."

The Hacker News casual misanthropy bubbles up to the top yet again.

Instead of trying to use your hacker instincts to find a solution you're just got to rest on your heels and let people suffer? What a waste of talent this represents.