The topic is regarding how people of higher intellect contribute to their own care by making more informed choices and thereby have improved outcomes.
The examples I gave are departures from the norm in medical practice and are informed choices that many make after considering the risk/benefit for their own personal medical histories/situations.
The general public doesn't even realize there is a choice most usually and goes along with the norm for their culture or whatever recommendation their health provider makes. It often takes a higher level of intellect to find information, make an evaluation of that information, advocate for a different path, and successfully navigate the pressures exerted by others to choose a more normative route.
My mother for example was pressured heavily by her cardiologist to get a pacemaker. She refused because she did not care for the permanency nor the risks. Instead she opted to travel to a world renowned center for an Ablation procedure by those who pioneered its use. It took much effort to arrange for this and the payment of it by her insurance. Those who choose pacemakers for their ailing hearts rather than ablation are no more "dumb" than those who immunize or choose hospital births if they have made an informed choice based on their own personal circumstances and desired outcomes.
Personalized medicine just like personalized education appear to offer the best potential outcomes to those able to access them. I tend to find any "one size fits all" approach in either domain to be inappropriate for all cirumstances. There is usually more than one option for most any dilemma and I carefully choose providers who allow me to participate in the decision making process as do many higher IQ individuals who operate in a place where there is such a choice.
