Looking at the number of people who are overweight/obese, who are smoking, who are abusing alcohol etc, I can not agree.
It seems very simple to me to understand how to eat/exersice properly and how to not poison myself. All the information is readily available to anyone who needs it. Now if so many people can not even get this bit right, what chance is there that they would be able to diagnose more complex cases?
You assume that people actually prefer health to overeating, smoking, and alcohol. I would suggest we can tell what people prefer from what they do, given that everyone knows that overeating, smoking, and drinking too much alcohol are very bad for you.
I say this, by the way, as an obese guy with a roommate who smokes, if that matters. :)
But would the people then actually prefer to actively prevent illnesses to just dealing with them as they happen? I have doubts ...
I know I'm guilty myself - I need to make 2-3 visits to the dentist to fill some cavities, but I tend to delay this because of time issues, financial cost and pure laziness ... and I think I care about my health reasonably well compared to the majority.
My point is - would obesity & drug addictions be so widespread if people cared about their health in the first place? Babies are not born being obese and drug addicted (the vast majority). And if they don't care that much already, how can we expect them to care enough to put some effort into diagnosing themselves?
It seems very simple to me to understand how to eat/exersice properly and how to not poison myself. All the information is readily available to anyone who needs it. Now if so many people can not even get this bit right, what chance is there that they would be able to diagnose more complex cases?