It is interesting to contrast the different approaches taken by Steve Jobs and Sergey Brin with regards to information about health issues. Sergey seemed to be trying to open/crowd source his (potential) problems where as Steve has taken the closed/inhouse source approach for as long as possible.
I can understand his position though and hope he makes a full recovery. But can't help thinking that if he released more details, an army of both qualified and unqualified Mac fans would have spent countless hours researching the problem and possibly come up with a solution sooner.
You know, I think I would place more faith in a team of highly-trained and paid doctors who are intimately familiar with his situation and medical record than I would in "the crowd". Especially considering the fact that doctors keep all the embarassing little details confidential (and let's face it, being in ill-health is embarassing to most, and especially someone who takes such pride in being "a force of nature" like Jobs does).
Yes, but the human body is complicated. I would not trust a non-professional for any sort of nontrivial diagnosis. Enough people don't understand the fundamentals of medicine (look at the success of airborne and homeopathy) that crowd-sourcing is of dubious quality.
You can get second opinions, but generally it's smart to stick to doctors for them.
Of course you wouldn't follow a non-profession's diagnosis withour further support or verification. But I do think that crowd sourcing would probably be able to find and identify the correct solution faster a few experts. As long as the process allows the views of those with higher levels of knowledge to predominate then it would work. In this case I believe there would be many professionals who would devote some time to look into the matter.
Apart from you privacy the worst you are risking would be to waste some of your expert doctors time in considering some additional possibilities.
I can understand his position though and hope he makes a full recovery. But can't help thinking that if he released more details, an army of both qualified and unqualified Mac fans would have spent countless hours researching the problem and possibly come up with a solution sooner.