# Named Genetic Illnesses are More Harmful than Good

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/named-genetic-illnesses-are-more-harmful-than-good/855858>\
**Category:** Great Debates\
**Created:** [June 17, 2020, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/named-genetic-illnesses-are-more-harmful-than-good/855858 "2020-06-17T17:29:52Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\
**Post date:** [June 24, 2020, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/named-genetic-illnesses-are-more-harmful-than-good/855858/21 "2020-06-24T17:26:12Z")

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> [@Telemark](#):
>
> In general, I understand that the bell-shaped curve applies. But it seems that for many types of illness, the outliers are important and we all benefit from naming them and treating them as such.

Yep. Deviations from normal distributions is an excellent way to detect abnormalities. However, whether an abnormality is a pathology or not is a separate issue.

I disagree with the OP that naming is counter-productive. Humans cannot handle abstraction or nuance well. Labeling lets us communicate better. It’s unreasonable to expect the general population to know enough to make precise delineations in complex topics. On the other hand, professionals should know their fields well enough to be very specific in terminology and their courses of action should follow the details.

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