[themodelplumber]

It can absolutely make things better. I have received lots of good medical advice in this way, with the philosophy that asking alone can't hurt. However I have also weighed the advice as to possible risk. In addition I've tried lots of things that didn't work for me, like diets, sleep patterns, and even some medications.

IMO in order for quality of care to improve across the board, it's important to acknowledge that there is some signal in the noise in situations like this. Overall I think most of us can trust ourselves. Especially if we also have access to medical professionals, many of whom will in practice shrug and say "it's worth a try if you like."

[88e282102ae2e5b]

It can also make things actively worse - it's not just additional information, but potentially disinformation.

[blacksmith_tb]

"Disinformation" typically means something intended to mislead[1], as opposed to "misinformation" which is merely wrong, not intentionally malicious. I doubt anyone here is intentionally trying to harm others with their advice...

1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disinformation

[themodelplumber]

Yeah, so: Research it, ask professionals about it, weigh the risks, and come to a decision, or don't. It's not like we're just computers who run every piece of input as a command with root privileges. We can engage and use a healthy, non-black-and-white filtering system.

[prawn]

They've asked for help in narrowing a field of information before they explore further. They're not asking for a final direction that they will blindly take.