Elementary, my dear Watson
"It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts."
- Arthur Conan Doyle via Sherlock Holmes
Few authors embody their creations quite like Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
Doyle might have begun his adulthood more like the sidekick Watson but he later grew into the investigative genius of his character Holmes.
In 1876 Doyle started his medical studies at the University of Edinburgh Medical School. Graduating in 1881 at the age of 22 with a Bachelor of Medicine and Master of Surgery.
By 1885 He had completed his Doctor of Medicine degree which was an advanced degree beyond being a basic medical degree.
In early 1891, He began the study of ophthalmology in Vienna. Doyle would later become a ships doctor on two ships, one to Greenland and one to west Africa.
Not fully satisfied with just being a doctor he took up writing in his free time. In his early writing career, he wrote a few books that failed to get the attention of his later work.
Then at the age of 27, he put that logical, medical school education into his work and 3 weeks later Sherlock holmes was born. A Study in Scarlet the first of the Holmes novels was published by Ward Lock & Co on November 20th 1886.
It is nearly impossible to over-estimate the impact that Arthur Conan Doyle via the character of Sherlock Holmes had on the modern police investigation. Many of the C.S.I. methods we take for granted today were either invented or inspired by the Sherlock Holmes novels
Doyle an advocate of justice himself, later put those methods to practice and personally investigated two closed cases. His investigations led to the two men being exonerated of the crimes of which they were accused.
In both cases, the accused were minorities. They both had preconceptions stacked against them before the facts had even been gathered. By proving their innocence Doyle reaffirmed the wisdom the Holmes novels provided.
The lessons that can be learned from the mind of Doyle/Holmes can serve us far beyond the field of the police investigation.
I think you'd be surprised how far confirmation bias can creep into your daily decision-making process. So take those values of gathering data before forming an opinion and apply them to every area of your life, and I think you'll be pleased with the quality of your future judgments.
- Jason Brown
