I'm a cyberchondriac
This new paper, by Microsoft Research scientists Ryen White and Eric Horvitz, must have been written about me. Web search is my first stop whenever I am wondering about a physical ailment (I mean, condition--well, you know what I mean: some physical situation where I'm just not sure what's happening).
If I didn't have the internet, I'd probably assume that slight headache is just caused by, oh, the large volume of wine I had last night for dinner. But nooooo, on the internet I'm exposed to so many more possibilities: like brain tumor. In fact, according to White&Horvitz, the nature of search results is such that I'm far more likely to gravitate to the brain tumor explanation than another, more likely one.
But what's wrong with that? Isn't more knowledge better? Having recently had my genome sequenced, I'm probably not the typical web surfer, so maybe the consequences don't apply to me. Even without the internet, I have a pretty good imagination when it comes to considering all the dire possibilities that may lie waiting for me.
I'd write more about this but lately I've had this weird tingling feeling on my scalp and, um, I need to do a little search to get to the bottom of it.
