Iatrogenics

Antifragile - Chapter 7, Naive Intervention

In the case of tonsillectomies, the harm to the children undergoing unnecessary treatment is coupled with the trumpeted gain for some others. The name for such net loss, the (usually hidden or delayed) damage from treatment in excess of the benefits, is iatrogenics, literally, “caused by the healer,” iatros being a healer in Greek.

Every Tool’s a Hammer - Chapter 4, Use More Cooling Fluid

After a few hours of this farce, one of the crew members turned to me and asked directly, and angrily, “Do you even know what you’re doing?”… I replied, “I don’t know. I’m making this up as I go along.” My joke did not go over well. Not because it wasn’t funny, but because it wasn’t a joke. The crew member put his hand on my shoulder, looked me dead in the eye, and said, “Go home.”

Ex-colleague for mine

Sometimes it is cruel to be kind