No offense but if there's nothing wrong with you and you just need an annual, that's great. There are shit doctors out there but, maybe you don't need anything? I see my Dr quite a bit and when I went from needing an annual checkup to needing help, that relationship changed. Many of them do care.
Without going into _all_ my medical history, I can tell you that there is only so much people can put up with before they give up. When I was younger I was much more optimistic about the state of things, I'm in my 30's now and there are a whole slew of things I know are going to be next to useless to bring up with my doctor. Their only recourse is to suggest expensive tests that may or may not actually help and I've very rarely felt like they actually care.
Dismissing anything I bring up with "Oh, it's not X", with what, at least to me, feels like not enough information to make a call one way or the other.
I have trouble breathing through my nose, it feels blocked sometimes. It alternates which nostril feels blocked, sometimes both feel blocked. My airflow is greatly reduced. I went to a doctor about it, "deviated septum" they said with complete confidence and some issue with enlarged turbinates (sp? I don't have the records accessible right now) they wanted to cut out. Ok, I agreed, dealt with the hellscape that is hospital billing and being made to feel guilty for daring to ask "how much will this cost?", then getting a bill later that only bore a passing resemblance to the quote. In their defence they told me the quote was only an estimate. Cool. Then a year or two later all the symptoms are back. I was told the enlarged whatever could grow back so I guess they were right? Fun. I moved and had to get a new doctor, I tell him about it all and tell him the symptoms are back. He didn't bother even looking at me, just told me to try an over-the-counter spray to see if that helped (it didn't).
Then (unrelated) he told me he wanted me to get something else checked out. Ok, I try to listen to my doctors, I call to schedule, I get on the schedule, then I get a letter outlining the procedure and the cost. It wasn't made clear to me at all it was a "we need to put you under a general"/"you'll need a ride home"/"Oh, and it's ~$6-7K". All for "we should check on that since you've been on X medication for Y years", an afterthought statement (or at least how it felt) that was actually much more involved and not cheap.
This is my experience with doctors.
As for dentists, I moved and they wanted to do something about a filling that was having a problem. Don't worry, it only will cost $100. Bill comes, it's $300+ because apparently my last dentist (I had them transfer all my records) touched that tooth within the last 2 years so insurance won't cover it. Cool. Cause I definitely fucking know that "Tooth 22" had work done on it, that totally should be 100% my responsibility. /s. They even had some "pricing person" come over to talk to me about it, why didn't they mention it? They had all the records! Just so annoying.
The US medical system is miserable to interact with. You have incomplete information and are often treated with such incredibly disrespect if you dare to ask questions.
Well, you are lucky that you can get them to order tests. That takes serious amount of convincing in the Bay Area.
Not being able to breathe properly increases cardiovascular risk in later years. I am supposed to take care of that deviated septum as well. But Flixonase or generic fluticasone propionate also helps quite a bit when taken weeks/months at a time.
The idea is silly because most of it is complete garbage anyway. You'd wind up with a model that might know a very small amount of actionable information, and the rest of it just speculative. Or extremely time sensitive, useful for only a relatively short slice of time (which has already passed).
I can see that. Personally, I use that for people who like to go down tedious rabbit holes and want to free up the rest of the attendees to go back to work.
Yeah I had a schedule like that when the kids were very young but it caught up with me, frankly. Having the computer be the first and last thing I interacted with every day was not great for my mood either.
Granted, I do need to take a break from that schedule every so often. If I catch myself being unfocused I just go to bed.
Also, the first thing I work on is usually a high leverage project that excites me. Reading news or answering emails (things that can affect my emotions) are usually avoided during that time. Usually.
It is only a single counterpoint in a sea of depressing examples but you may enjoy the story of Yvon Chouinard, owner of Patagonia, who gave it all away to trusts for protecting the environment.
Yvon is solid. Bezo's ex is good. There's plenty of gray, too, where they're trying to give a lot away or make life better for everyone.
But, fundamentally,bro become a billionaire, you exploited some people at some point in the process. Their mere existence is not ideal for society. And their assets would be better served distributed to the masses. Unfortunately, we also lack many good and strong governments and policies - so I wouldn't feel great just transfering their wealth to the governments of the world for said distribution, either.
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