NECKTIES AND GERMS—ADRIAN MONK.

NECKTIES AND GERMS—ADRIAN MONK. I have posted, for example here, about the controversy about whether doctors should wear neckties and used the dispute as an example of the split between Bayesians and frequentists. An AMA committee is seeking “solid scientific evidence” before it votes on the issue. I argued that it was plausible that germ could live on neckties. Now I see this article in Slate about how costumes were designed for Tony Shalhoub’s obsessive-compulsive detective, Adrian Monk. Monk never wears a necktie and always fastens the top button of his shirt. The costume designer says: “Ties carry a million germs. People don’t clean their ties. Food goes on their ties as they’re hanging around their necks. People cough, sneeze; everything goes on the tie.” Monk is a germophobe, and so he doesn’t wear a necktie.