DISCERNMENT

DISCERNMENT is the ability to judge well, but it is also the quality of being able to comprehend what is obscure.  For the former definition DISCERNMENT stresses accuracy while discrimination stresses distinguishing differences.  DISCERNMENT also involves distinguishing differences but includes distinguishing what is important from what is not.  Sometimes what is important is obscure (there are many signals distracting us from what is important) so the ability to judge well (a wise and perceptive approach to judging) is being able to comprehend what is obscure.

I wrote yesterday on DECISION QUALITY and pondered if a change in focus of health care financing with attention to documenting key concepts for decision-making would be better than what we do today.  Would such an approach facilitate better DISCERNMENT as the physician and patient are more focused on the decisions being made together and less distracted by less important signals?

Last week I wrote on CRITICAL APPRAISAL with thoughts on the US presidential election. Discriminating the differences between the candidates is easy (and both accuse the other of discrimination but that is a different issue) but can you DISCERN their ability or likely actions despite the heavy layer of distractions produced by the media and the opponents to portray it differently, and can you DISCERN what is important from what is not? Or is it too obscure?