Is it foolish to seek expert advice on myLot?

I'm a doctor myself and I tend to agree with you here. Even as a doctor, it's hard to make a response to a specific health topic because individuals have different manifestations of different diseases and there are a lot of different ways to manage 1 disease. Even a doctor needs to see the patient in order to make an accurate diagnosis, to order the appropriate tests and to prescribe the correct medications. The most that we can do here is to give a general advice. Also, how sure are you that the person who answers your query is truly qualified to do so? Ditto for the other topics you mentioned.

Yeah, I think you're right, there are some folks out there who post questions here that tell us a lot about social breakdown. ie. we think that the PC is an appropriate tool and that internet 'friends' are real friends. I am not so concerned with the medical problems though they are of course worrying. What worries me more is those people who have reached a critical point in their marriage or with their relationships with their children, and come to MyLot for advice! I noticed on poster saying how they were planning to leave their spouse...apart from anything that's pretty rude...posting your intentions on Mylot before doing it.. I thought it might be a hoax to get responses, but there were other posts by the same person all on the same theme - turns out there was a third party...but worse than that there were kids involved. Reading those posts has done me no good, those kids no good, anybody involved no good, and anyone not remotely involved no good... In fact I wish hadn't remembered it....In conclusion what I meant to say was - if you ask medical advice here you will get what you deserve, if you try to justify ruining your kids lives by posting the short-comings of your spouse on MyLot - chances are you will never get what you deserve (a damn good slap!). Hee hee -what about this for an idea...find such posts and just answer with the word 'SLAP!!!' - probably get you banned from MyLot! (would work for medical questions too if you like...)

I agree with you, but I think that this is an asker's dilemma in the fact that you have to take any advice received on this site with a grain of salt. You cannot expect someone on the internet to read a dilemma or a problem you need advice on and be able to help you to the best extend... it's just not reasonable in those situations. Like the poster above me said, it's difficult because of overlying circumstances with anyone... there are no generalizations that can be made to help someone out, every person is different and unique and could possess a different problem. I tend to stay away from offering any kind of advice because of your very concern; I don't want someone viewing my opinion as an expert opinion, I am hardly that. I think that some of the responsibility should be with the asker as well as with the responder, because you probably shouldn't ask the questions looking for real advice, but you shouldn't give advice as an "expert" either.

yes i do agree with you , they are banking on their luck to find an expert in that subject here, there are all sorts of people in this world, people tell what they think without knowing , we have to judge for ourselves

Hello oldiebut, I think I am qualified to answer some of those qustions, I stayed in a Holiday Inn Express last night. Hahahahaha. I agree with you there are alot of people getting bad advice from non professionals and it's kinda like a commercial I saw recently about a man on the phone with his doctor, he is sitting at the kitchen table with a knife in hand. The doctor is telling the man to make his cut in between the second and third rib muscles, the man looked kind of strange and asked shouldn't you be doing this? It's the same in here with advice, how do you know you are getting expert advice? Now if you have any questions about landscape architecture I am qualified I have a BS in Architecture, An Associates in Horticulture, and a certificate in Hydroculture. But for others you are taking a stab in the dark when asking for help or advice. Peace, Totty