A “smart but stupid” person killed this little girl. We see these people everywhere, “smart” in an academic sense maybe, but incredibly careless, reckless with the health and safety of those around them, in their day-to-day lives. Somehow, they’re able to find employment in fields where error means death or injury, and yet they remain employed. We need to not only bring back IQ tests, but develop and employ empathy tests, and more importantly, tests for common critical sense. Medical error is the third leading cause of death in the United States, and I’d wager that if we studied each medical professional responsible, we’d find a pattern in personality and behavior. After that, it would be the simple step of screening applicants for these red flag personality traits and then blacklisting them forever from working in a field where error can cost lives.
