You know, it’s kind of ironic when a bum like me hears a person with a résumé like yours say that she only has one-and-one-half things to get out of bed for. It presents kind of an interesting take on the human condition: Maybe it really is okay to live in a fool’s paradise when someone who’s career I’d greatly envy (if I were that into film) can be as down as me, a guy who has blown or squandered every opportunity he’s ever had.
Anyway, I still suggest taking a look at Gigerenzer’s book. I mean, going to a no fat diet may cut your risk of heart disease in half, which sounds great. But that’s not a really informative fact. If four in one-thousand people in your risk group get heart disease when consuming fatty foods, then cutting out fatty foods would only improve your standing to a risk group where two in one-thousand get heart disease. That benefit may simply not be worth the pain of giving up food you love!
As a group, I don’t think doctors are generally known for their mathematical maturity, and the threat of lawsuits may make them risk averse. Your doctor may not be weighing your risks and benefits. You’re best suited to do that. Gigerenzer goes through some elementary ways to put these risks into a language that is more natural for a human to understand, even a mathematically naive one, and help you make a more informed choice. Hell, you may choose to eat non-fat foods, but at least you’ll really understand why, and how it changes the risks you actually face.
Or, there’s always urban haiku.
Blind taxi driver
Roaring down the city streets
Loves to run red lights.