this post was submitted on 13 Jun 2024
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No Stupid Questions

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No such thing. Ask away!

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Here’s a (very stupid) parody of the attitude as I imagine it from the most obstinate people with this view:

Well, my doctor says I need to take this medication, so that's what I'm going to do. I don't care what all those other people online are saying about their experiences with it. My doctor knows best, and I'm not going to listen to a bunch of anonymous strangers on the internet. They're probably just making stuff up anyway.

Sure, I get that a lot of people had some nasty side effects or didn't see any improvement, but my doctor assured me that won't happen to me. He's a professional, so I trust him completely. And I know he's only trying to help, not line his own pockets or anything.

All those online forums and support groups are just a waste of time. What could a bunch of regular people possibly know that my highly educated, experienced doctor doesn't? I'm going to take this medication exactly as prescribed and not ask any questions. My doctor is infallible, and I refuse to get a second opinion or consider any other options. Nope, I'm just going to blindly follow his advice and ignore everyone else. That's the smart and responsible thing to do!

(Yes, this is extraordinary (and like I said stupid), and yes your doctor knows more than JoeRando420 telling you to buy homeopathic crystal suppositories. In fact I only have one user in mind writing this post, someone I forget who posted long ago about a condition I cannot remember. Hope they got better.)

Main point is: why not let a large number of people who heard about a condition from their own qualified doctors help you at least scribble down some questions to ask your own medical folks at your next appointment? (But please avoid those crystal suppositories.)


Edit: thanks everybody, read all your posts and they're all great points! Glad I posted here. Thanks for reading something at least 80% dumb :)

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[–] WolfLink@sh.itjust.works 2 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

I don’t believe everything on the internet is a lie (although of course I don’t believe everything on the internet is true either). You have to read it and judge for yourself.

In the case of getting medical advice, there is an inherent bias to finding anecdotes on the internet. The people who post are going to be the people who have something to say. That’s going to be either people who had a life changing positive experience, or who have something to complain about. The middle-ground experience is underrepresented.

However, there is value in anecdotes. The doctor can tell you high likely a given side effect might be, but people on the internet might have a better description of what that experience is like.

I try to take in as much information as I can when I am making an informed decision, including things like asking my doctor, finding anecdotes on the internet, and finding actual scientific papers.

[–] parody@lemmings.world 1 points 2 weeks ago

I like it! Thanks :)

[–] jet@hackertalks.com 1 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

Because a lot of things online are blatantly false, you can't tell if people are memeing, astroTurfing, have some weird agenda, or they all listen to one misinformed influencer.

Your doctor, on the other hand has a medical duty to operate in your best interest, and to inform you of your best options.

Are doctors always correct? Do they always have the time to understand your issue? Hell no. You're still responsible for your own health care, but the doctor is supposed to be the dispassionate, invested, and rational consultant to help you on your journey

So if somebody doesn't have the time, energy, background, language skills, to actually look at research, it is reasonable for them to say I'm going to go with my doctor, and not other people. That's fair, that's your heuristic, nothing wrong with that as long as it's done intelligently

If you're trying to convince somebody to go against their doctor's advice, the burden is on you, to provide them overwhelming compelling evidence. The probabilities they're operating under are that their doctor is correct and you are misinformed. The onus is on you to do all of the work, to prove your position. That's a high barrier

[–] tobogganablaze@lemmus.org 1 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Getting a second opinion is a very common thing for people with serious conditions. Not really sure what you're on about.

[–] parody@lemmings.world -1 points 5 months ago

Yeah it sure is, probably the top reason the parody was so dumb.

In fact I only have one user in mind writing this post, someone I forget who posted long ago about a condition I cannot remember.

I think they said they would block anyone who tried to offer any advice. But even they had probably had years and years of second and nth opinions.

Come to think of it, I think I’m also responding to someone who demanded anyone seeking care “listen to your doctors!“ in a way that seem to preclude the fact that there is a safe way to use the fallible input of anonymous strangers as a tentative guiding factor.

[–] slazer2au@lemmy.world 1 points 5 months ago

Why trust the one professional who went through a decade of training and has my multi decade history over a group of people who spoke with their professional who went through a decade of training and doesn't have my multi decade history?

Well if I have a bad reaction to a medication, my doctor can work with manufacturers to also prescribe a medication to prevent the problem, or a more generic drug without those effects. where a group of random people will do the equivalent of throwing shit at the wall and hope it sticks.

[–] spittingimage@lemmy.world 0 points 5 months ago (1 children)

One very good example of what you're describing is the people who were insisting that vaccination gives you magnetic blood during the Covid outbreak. I've become very suspicious about the wisdom of crowds.

[–] parody@lemmings.world -1 points 5 months ago

How do you explain me sticking to the fridge?

[–] sukhmel@programming.dev 0 points 5 months ago (1 children)

I'd say it's a matter of what are the chances of bad advice. If something people on the internet are talking about is widely known, there would also be papers with research, and I'm better off reading that. If it's a niche stuff, their talk on the internet doesn't bear statistical significance anyway.

Sure, there are scammers and incompetent doctors, but I would rather ask several people with a medical license, than several thousand laymen that think they are competent enough to give advices

[–] parody@lemmings.world -1 points 5 months ago

Good laying out the cost-benefit here.

there would also be papers with research, and I'm better off reading that.

I had this in mind: that eventually somebody links some paper where they’ve read the abstract… then it’s sensible to read the whole thing and see if it’s worth discussing with someone qualified I suppose.

Thanks 🙂

[–] PahassaPaikassa@sopuli.xyz 0 points 5 months ago (1 children)

If your car is making a rumble noise, you take it to a mechanic who tells you its a failed wheel bearing. Do you then go and change the gearbox because you dont trust professionals?

[–] parody@lemmings.world -1 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Haha might just ask “hey does the gearbox ever rumble like that?”, that’s all 🙂

s/o to old school car forums who’ve guided my way when I’ve known zero, btw

[–] PahassaPaikassa@sopuli.xyz 1 points 5 months ago

And then the mechanic will answer "yes. But its the wheel bearing thats making the noise." Do you then go to the car forums and ask help with chaning the gearbox or do you trust the professional and change the wheel bearing?

[–] parody@lemmings.world -1 points 5 months ago

Thanks for the great input everybody!