Most doctors dont have the types of antibiotics memorized by heart either unless they work in a specialty or ER. There are cell wall destroyers, folic acid synthesis interruptors, protein synthesis disruptors, etc. [1]

Gone are the days where a doctor should be taken at his judgment 100% as if medicine is a black box enigma. The average HNer would be wise to google about their conditions and drugs they consume. A doctor can only remember so much - they are primarily valuable for their experience in hueristic diagnosis -- not for knowing everything medical and everything pharmacutical. It is wise to relinquish some responsibility to a professional but not all.

Most of medicine aside from surgical methods can be understood by a mildly intelligent person who cares enough, because of wikipedia and google, everything except actual experience is very accessible.

I dont see how your astonishment is anything other than misinformed hyperbole.

[1] https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/87/Antibiot...

People will take all kinds of advice when they're trying to feel better but once they feel good, they want to get back to partying ASAP and the doctor says no drinking while taking antibiotics.

The no drinking thing is actually a bit of a mythconception - e.g. Penicillin is safe to take while drinking. http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2005/06/02/1380836.ht...

TL;DR - In the early days of penicillin, it was used to treat various STDs. Doctors strongly advised their patients that alcohol was not to be consumed while taking the anti-biotics, not because there was a chemical interaction between the medicine and the infection, but to lower the odds of the patient getting wheeled one night and re-infecting themselves.

Nonetheless, that's the way it is. Processes should adapt to humans, not vice versa.

For the most part, of course. Cultural evolution does occur, however it's unpredictable and not something that can be easily forced.

I think another factor is just intuition: taking medicine when you feel ill makes sense, but continuing to take the medication for several days after you feel completely recovered seems intuitively wrong to a lot of people.