Was it? I see the point the story is trying to make, but if you think about it, the story by itself just doesn't make any sense at all. The "Which half?" line sounds kinda clever, but what is it actually implying? That the student is unsure whether the surgeon killed all his patients?
NooneAtAll3|10 days ago
yes, exactly that?
it's a parable about null hypothesis - without data to compare against we have no idea whether new procedure is actually any good (as in, better)
in reality conversation would (should) soon turn towards observations by other surgeons, general death rate of the disease or even some basic theory - but simply saying "they would've died, trust me bro" is not it
also note that surgeon is overreacting. "set aside" does not automatically mean "do nothing" - control group should probably be given previous accepted version of treatment, as that's what the new idea is trying to replace