Do you expect everyone you converse with to have a Ph.D?

Ha! No!

I would live in a terribly quiet world if I restricted myself in such a way, and I would miss so much of value.

Only for really in depth, detailed and definitive answers, and only in hard sciences (maths, biology, physics, genetics, etc.)
When it comes to the wishy-washy borderline pseudo sciences (philosophy, economics, psychology, politics) I have no actual demands regarding qualifications, because in the end they are meaningless.

Totally depends on the nature of the advice. If it was about medical issues, I’d take the word of a M.D. over someone googling the answer.

If it’s about ice cream brands, then a degree isn’t going to be particularly helpful or relevant (unless they have a Ph.D in chemistry or nutrition). Those degrees take a ridiculous amount of time and effort to get. I respect people who have put in the effort to do so, and their answers carry a hell-of-a-lot more weight for me if the question is topical to their field of expertise.

On the other thread, I used the example of someone being an expert at plowing snow. You don’t need a PhD to plow snow. I would think someone who never plowed snow, never operated a plow, no matter how smart they are, is not going to be the best man for the job.

if I want to learn how to cook, I might get good technical help from a recent graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, but I’d probably get really good cooking lessons from someone’s Jewish grandmother or Italian grandmother.

When my pipes froze, I doubt that the plumber had a PhD, but he got the pipes unfrozen.

This, by its very definition, is the flaw of having anonymous avatars answering questions, particularly ones that rely on actual data. While it is true that anyone and everyone can have an opinion on politics and religion and philosophy, etc., only true experts are qualified to answer in the more STEM oriented subjects. Yet, that doesn’t stop anyone from answering, true knowledge and experience be damned.

Since the founders chose the anonymous route here at Fluther, it is virtually impossible to determine what anyone’s real qualifications are, and thus every single answer has to be taken with a grain of salt. For example, this site is littered with faulty or downright wrong medical advice from armchair doctors, and there is almost no way to prevent or eradicate that.

@Quakwatch If you can’t tell the difference between an answer supplied by an airhead and one from a leading authority on the topic involved, you probably should stick to reading peer reviewed papers after they have weathered the rigors of the review process.

@ETpro If you can’t tell the difference between an answer supplied by an airhead and one from a leading authority on the topic involved, you probably won’t get any more out of a peer reviewed paper than you would from a Fluther quip.

All reading has to be done critically, regardless of the source. This is an important life skill.

@ETpro Personally, I have the capacity to assess these things, but I don’t think the average person can tell if an anonymous person is spouting truth or bullshit as it relates to medicine, science, technology, etc. Rather than attempting to attack my intelligence, perhaps taking a cold, hard look in the Fluther mirror will help you realize the truth in my statement. In any event, I can go to a site like Quora, where individuals can either answer with their real names, or choose to answer anonymously. This provides much greater transparency and credibility, when the nature of the question demands it. Now, queue the attacks on a newbie for daring to question the Fluther model.

@Quakwatch The Fluther anonymity model has its reasons for existence. If you are new to a site and come it criticizing it before understanding it, you might expect some backlash. Don’t whine when you get it, that just demeans you further in the eyes of many of the regulars in the community.

You probably have a great deal you can contribute here, and I hope you decide to stick around and do so. But this is not Quora. I participate there to, so I know what I am speaking about.

Nope.

@ETpro Please, educate me on the “reasons for existence” of anonymity as it relates to credibility. I can tell you exactly why this was chosen. Because “we’re all experts” could theoretically recruit all comers to the site, encouraging the participation of more people. “Only some of us are experts” just wouldn’t have led to any growth when the site was first founded, though in fact it is true. The idea that everyone is an expert is simply wrong, and I’m sure you know that.

Also, what makes you think I don’t understand the site?

As I said on the other thread, all that is required is following the rules of Fluther. A PhD is not one of those rules.
I will do as I please.
Good day.

@Quakwatch I do not believe I ever argued that the intention of anonymity is to enhance credibility. I also did not assert that everyone is an expert. I don’t know who argued that, but anyone who did is misinformed. The premise of this site, as stated on its home page, is; “Everyone has a profile and a ‘lurve’ score. Together, we share our diverse experience and knowledge.” I see nothing in that claiming that all those here are renowned experts in some field.

@ETpro There is a revolving image on the home page that sometimes says (in these or similar words) “Everyone is an expert… at something.”

This all reminds me of /b/‘s disclaimer:
”The stories and information posted here are artistic works of fiction and falsehood. Only a fool would take anything posted here as fact.”

@glacial Aha. My bad, @Quakwatch. If that’s the image you’re questioning, I guess I missed noticing it.

This is more than a q&a site. This is a community. It’s almost a family. Are there a few crackpots? Of course there are but that doesn’t mean that they’re worthless human beings. Like weird uncle Al you take them with a grain of salt. There are also people here that have become trusted friends. Some have proven over the years (I’ve been here since 2008) to be experts in certain fields, and some have proven to be wise when it comes to relationships. Some have proven to be compassionate human beings who I have grown to trust.
I don’t need a piece of paper to know that their advice holds wisdom. My common sense and experience with them have already proven that.
For many of us, we are not seeking the advice of strangers, we are having conversations with friends.

Of course not, many of my interests/ areas of knowledge have been self taught and from experience.
Bright people are everywhere and one does not need to have an advanced degree to share their experience, knowledge and wisdom.

@Quakwatch It’s easy for me to figure out whether someone has a clue what they’re talking about despite having the social obliviousness of autism. If I can do a task equivalent to a dyslexic person reading, how hard can it be? If you’re implying that I have a better bullshit-meter than neuro-typicals, then either you’re wrong or society is doomed.

As for the thread in question, if that wasn’t trolling flamebait, then there’s no such thing. The internet is full of flamers, griefers, and the like, and that the OP had little/no interest in answers except as targets to shoot down.

@Quakwatch: For example, this site is littered with faulty or downright wrong medical advice from armchair doctors, and there is almost no way to prevent or eradicate that.

Exhausting as it is, they get challenged all the time. Their tenacity and pigheadedness does, however, make for a fascinating psychological study. (Disclaimer. I am not a psychologist).

@jerv I didn’t even look at that thread. However, I’ve surfed through many medical threads that are rife with pseudoscience and pseudomedicine that is confidently presented as near fact, and rarely with a disclaimer. In the interest of time, I won’t list them, but know that it would be trivial to find and list them. How is the average person to know when they get strongly worded recommendations that their thryoid is malfunctioning that the answerer has no medical background? Just because the answerer has had a similar problem doesn’t mean the OP suffers from the same illness. As @gailcalled confirms, this is an ongoing issue.

By way of contrast @ETpro, it is cool that if I want to know about NBA basketball, investing, or life in general, I can actually read answers from Mark Cuban. I can learn Ashton Kutcher’s thoughts on Hollywood, and other things. There are verified experts in many subjects. How am I or anyone else supposed to know when random avatar X gives advice what is their credibility? Wouldn’t you rather know for sure that your answer is from an expert in that subject, rather than having to constantly guess? Isn’t that more valuable?

@Quakwatch No. Always reading expert advice isn’t what brings me here. There are plenty of places where I can find bona fide expert opinion and advice when that’s what I am looking for. And if that is what you want, you and I agree you are in the wrong place.

Based on the links you listed, it looks like you came here to shill for Quora. Are they that desperate?

I have been here a long time. Don’t let the join date in my profile fool you. I think I am going on six years. And I pretty much have learned who I will take advice from. I would hope people know I am shit with relationship advice but I can probably help with your computer.

@Quakwatch I like you. I like your pot-stirring responses.
Obviously, somebody with genuine medical or mental problems should not be reliant on answers posted on a social internet site.
If someone is posting on Fluther for those answers, I hope (and have seen) that it is a jumping off board for hearing they are not alone, and a recommendation to talk to a professional.

We come here for a variety of reasons.
If I need immediate help connecting my new Android tablet to my router (and google search has failed me), I’ll post here and get an answer.
If I want to connect with other people who remember using silly putty to lift up comic images, I’ll come here.
We are all experts in our own experience, and we all like to share.
As in everything, you consider the source and the intent.

@Quakwatch In other words, you’re saying I do have a better bullshit filter than the average person. I’ve seen enough other signs that we’re doomed that I cannot reliably refute that, so I’m just going to curl up in the corner and weep for humanity.

Nope. I think of this as a community. I don’t discount the ideas or advice of friends or family just because they don’t have a PHD behind their name. My daughter and myself and my husband have all been victims of Doctors with a PHD behind their name. They are not flawless. If they were, than there would not be any malpractice lawsuits.

I think when asking about certain things that it can be helpful. But even here some with a PHD won’t make a diagnosis without actually knowing everything about the person and without a physical exam. So for medical, you are going to get what you get. Most people suggest things followed by, you should see your doctor.

Personally I prefer to hear from people who may have some home remedies that worked, or a recipe idea from a home cook. I’m not looking to create a 5 star meal. I have simple taste, and I am not looking for skin advice that means I have to go get laser treatments to get rid of one pimple, when some soap and water and clearsil will do the job.

Just about anything else I can google if I simply want a definitive answer . I feel the fluther is for a different type of help. I find people who think outside of the box sometimes much more informative than those taught to never look outside of their box.

Like others said I would rely on experts advice for medical issues, but for other things, I feel a person with experience would be able to give better advice than a person with Ph.D. It’s not that People with degrees are not capable of giving proper advice, but from what I’ve seen, most good advice comes from people who have experienced or closely witnessed others experiences.
I don’t have a Ph.D but when people ask questions I try to read or listen closely what the person seeking advice is saying. The more you understand what the person wishes to say the more insight you will have and the better advice you can give. Most of the time people asking for advice just want a listener. In many cases we may not be able to offer any advice, but we can definitely calm them down with some simple words. For such comforting words or help a Ph.D is not needed.

How silly to think that you need an advanced degree to answer questions here. We have some people who are highly knowledgeable in their areas of expertise and their answers are most welcome regarding questions pertinent to what they have learned. There is, however, more to life than what you can learn by getting a degree. The strength of this site depends in part on the diversity of experiences and interests of its members. If you stick around long enough, it is almost certain that you will find questions that your experience has made you uniquely qualified to answer.

I value advice from anyone that knows what they’re talking about, degree or no degree. I don’t, however, appreciate advice solely based on anecdotal evidence, especially when it’s presented as a fact.

Wtf is spumoni ice cream?

Can someone link the question where someone’s life was saved because of the advice given here? I can’t remember the details but I’m sure someone here will. They were told to go to the hospital and had surgery that if left untreated could have killed them.

It was @Judochop, who presented w. symptoms of appendicitis in Dec., 2008. Our legitimate MD.. @shilolo sent him to to the ER. Below the short versionn:

http://www.fluther.com/30017/ever-have-constipation-so-bad-that-it-hurt-to-move/

@shilolo: Judo. Sorry to come so late to the game. I suggest you seek medical attention as soon as you can. It sounds like you have low grade fever, severe abdominal pain, a change in your bowel habits,
and that it hurts to move. This constellation of symptoms can indicate a number of things like appendicitis, diverticulitis, small bowel obstruction, pancreatitis, and other things. Consider going sooner rather than later. I hope you feel better.

@Judochop:at the hospital. Gearing up for a catscan. Shaking. Nervous. Feeling like a baby. Appendix, they think.

@Judochop: surgery. Appendix burst. Talk to you all after the surgery.

Happy ending.

Obviously not. Why would I have an account here if I did?

First and foremost, having a degree doesn’t mean you’re good at what you do, let alone at explaining it. Furthermore I dont need Ph.D. level informations on every topic, sometimes I just need an approximate idea just so I can figure some very basic stuff out.

You know, like newtonian physics works on small scales but not on large ones? Same thing.

@Judi @gailcalled That Q is precisely my point. If you read the first set of responses, they say things like “take some smooth move tea” or “it’s just gas”. That is the danger.

I second @Blackberry‘s answer. As long as they’re well equipped the answer should be good.

@Kardamom If your cousin had a PhD in ice cream your story would be surprising. Being an expert in one field certainly does not make the person an expert in another.

When someone answer a question about science or medicine I do like to know their background in the field. If they are just someone who has been through the same thing or a family member has, their information can still be useful, in that it can be something to look into, it does not mean you just accept their advice as fact or something to try.

Quakwatch mentioned thyroid and @gailcalled and @quakwatch mentioned people giving medical advice who are not physicians and I am one of them who does this all the time. I never tell someone they have a thyroid problem, I suggest maybe they get it checked if their symptoms fit, if with more questions they have no other symptoms of thyroid I say that it does seem unlikely it is the problem. I also tell the person I am not a doctor. Doctors miss things, they are human. Sometimes a friend or a stranger gives a clue for what can help us. I always say get the blood tests, talk to your doctor, don’t just pop pills, not even vitamins and minerals. I really can’t see how it hurts to brainstorm a little. That’s what it is, brainstorming a lot of the time.

Doctor’s have an incredible amount of knowledge; that is simply a fact. They understand things about the body and disease process that is so much more complex than what the average person even realizes. However, there is a ton they still don’t know, because medical science doesn’t know yet. I know so many people who feel like shit and their doctors don’t know the answers. The patient wants to feel better, so they see a fourth or fifth doctor and they talk to friends hoping for some improvement.

I can’t see anything wrong with talking to a friend and finding a doctor who has a new idea about what might be wrong or help.

So, I personally, without my medical degree will continue to give medical armchair advice with a disclaimer that I am not a physician, because I can link bunches and bunches of Q’s where I was right. It was a medically induced hypopthyroid that most likely caused her mom’s heart troubles (that was the eventual conclusion of her doctors, which I had suggested all along) and that young girl does have graves disease (she admitted it once I suggested it according to her symptoms) and the woman’s vitamin D did test very low, and another woman’s period never did come back, and on and on.

Anyone who takes internet advice as the gospel is making a mistake. Like I said it is more for brainstorming. My rheumotologist said I have fibromyalgia, my neurologist said I am perfectly normal, my endocrinologist said I have low vitamin D. My GP said my electrocardiograph was perfect, my cardiologist said I do in fact have an arrythmia. When I was a kid all my doctors heard my murmur, as an adult barely any of them do. Why? I have no idea why. My cardiologist hears it and you can see it on echo, it is still there. I told someone they had warts on their feet when they showed them to me. Told them to go to the doctor the case was so bad. The first doctor gave them Lotrimin (a yeast infection med) which before he even could break open the tube I told him to see a second doctor. That doctor diagnosed it as warts and treated it. That cream would not have done anything, the first doctor was incompetent. Doctors seem to not realize how bad some doctors are.

I thought everyone has forgotten this question already.
No, because why should I? I don’t even ask someone with a Ph.d who I don’t have faith in. When I get an answer, I don’t care about the answerer. I just see if I the answer is useful or not and that’s all.

I’m one of those people who most here consider to be “nuts”. I take medical advice from an MD with a grain of salt. Not that I discount it entirely, but 60 years of living and personal experience taught me that it’s another opinion, a qualified medical opinion, but an opinion nevertheless. (I’ve seen too many times “experts” disagree with each other, or with evidence.) I look at that information along with whatever other information I have, and either choose my course of action, or keep looking for more answers.

Anybody who uses a social network site as their sole source of medical advice may find themselves sorely misguided. Even if you go to a medical site with incredible doctors on it, nothing takes the place of visiting a doctor.

That said, for me, Fluther is fun, resourceful and informative on a vast variety of topics. Since we really are like a community of friends, it’s no surprise that we circle the wagons when new folks start off with insults.

No, and if they do and can answer in great technical detail, more than likely I will not understand all their terms unless I have a matching PhD which would render them unnecessary.

Since we all have different backgrounds and life experiences, we can all learn something from each other that may expand our minds or teach us something new, or even open doors that we never knew even existed.

One of the main draws for me here, is that many jellies are not like me in any aspect, so I gain a different perspective on pretty much every subject, and if I’m lucky, a few new friends.

Good gracious, I really didn’t look at this thread (until now) after I posted it late last night. Looks like there’s been a party going on and I missed most of it.

Initially, I had intended to post this in General, because I simply wanted to know if any of you Jellies have gotten any good advice from other Jellies that did not have Ph.D’s.

I accidentally pushed the Social button, but then the mods asked me if I wanted it placed back into General. I guess that’s when a lot of the modding happened while I was out.

I hope everyone was being kind to each other.

So I’ll ask again. Have any of you Jellies received any good answers/advice from other Jellies, or other people in your lives, that have given you good, useful advice, who did not have an advanced degree? You don’t have to name names, but maybe you could give a general idea about the situation.

Thanks everyone. Sorry I missed a lot of your answers.

@Kardamom I think many of the deletions were about ice cream. Sorry, mods. :D

I’ve asked few questions here, but have received very useful advice. I would be very surprised if any of the answerers had advanced degrees in the topics involved.

@Kardamom I’d like to say yes but I don’t ask for qualifications from people. I assume some have PhD’s based on their profile and general knowledge, but it’s hard to tell for sure.

Some of the most interesting conversations about religion included several jellies who have studied religion extensively from what I gather, could all be lies, but I tend to believe a few.

[mod says] Since this is the General section of Fluther, all off-topic responses will be removed per the OP’s request that the question remains in General.

Absolutely not. That’s ridiculous. I value life experience and street smarts over book smarts any day.

@deni So, do you want your surgeon to be a street “doctor” who learned who to take out an appendix with a Swiss Army knife and some Jack Daniels, or a board certified general surgeon from Harvard?

@Quakwatch Well I think it stands to reason when it comes to serious circumstances such as medicine, piloting a plane or other, potentially life threatening situations.
Nobody wants a self taught neurosurgeon or pilot. lol
Now, I can design the worlds coolest house without fear of being sued for malpractice. haha

@Coloma
Not if it collapses because it was not structurally sound.

@ragingloli I’m not talking 80 story skyscraper here. lol

@Coloma And that’s my point. It is rather standard for people without significant expertise to deride those that have it as having “book smarts” but lacking “life experiences” or “street smarts”. Yes, if I’m walking through a tough neighborhood, street smarts would be better than a PhD in neuroscience, but if I need a tumor removed, I want a board certified neurosurgeon. I just find it laughable that this often comes up. “My opinion is equally valid as yours” just isn’t true. Some peoples’ knowledge base is just significantly greater, and thus that person’s opinion IS more valid.

I have never gotten good advice on much of anything, as I am more about answering than asking. The rare exceptions have been mostly highly technical matters, and the helpful answers were mostly from experienced hobbyists.

However, as an experienced hobbyist myself, I have built up a reputation as a good person to go to for computer advice despite never getting a degree in Computer Sciences, and know a fair bit about cars despite not being ASE certified or taking even Auto Shop, let alone a college-level equivalent of it. I can generally be at least moderately helpful with most forms of engineering, though sometimes that help is limited to simply directing others to those who know more than I do on the subject.

So tell me, what sort of degree to you need to be a trustworthy source of information about tabletop gaming? PhD of D&D? What college courses do I need to take to know where a good Phở places in Seattle are? And how much are those credentials worth anyways? Have you ever heard the term “diploma mill”? The relationship between degrees and knowledge is not as strong as some people think it is.

@Quakwatch I run into a similar sort of derision all the time. It seems I am no longer allowed to be in any discussions regarding nuclear power since my safely living near a reactor for decades and going to school to study nuclear reactors is trumped by whatever somebody else read and only half-understood on Mother Jones. Confirmation Bias sucks.

@Quakwatch I just find it laughable that this often comes up. “My opinion is equally valid as yours” just isn’t true. Some peoples’ knowledge base is just significantly greater, and thus that person’s opinion IS more valid.

If I could lurve you more than once, i would.

The implication here, is that my opinion, because of my great mind and education, I am a smarter/more valuable person than you! That’s what pisses people off.

That attitude might not be inferred in a face-to-face interview, but this is the Internet, and arrogance tends to be felt more even when it’s not intended. I think a lot of people here on Fluther come across as arrogant as all get-out, but probably aren’t in real life, and they certainly don’t intend to sound that way on Fluther.

Some friends are so scholarly they simply don’t ‘get’ people. I see a lot of distant interpersonal relationships too.

@snowberry When I ask a question it would be infinitely better to receive the correct answer, or a well-reasoned opinion one from an arrogant asshole than the wrong or poorly-reasoned answer from someone really nice. Of course, ideally they would have the right answer and be nice about it.

@KNOWITALL That is a whole other issue entirely. Suffice it to say that coincidence is not causation; there is another reason for that.

I read a good deal of philosophy, and even books written by philosophers, psychologists and sociologists so I guess I’ve always been a deep discussion type of guy. I still look at philosophy with a sceptical eye though, since any human construct can be fallacious, and even many philosophers don’t have the life experiences of others who aren’t philosophers.

While I will listen to what experts have to say, and consider it, ultimately this usually doesn’t affect my decisions . Personal experience, along with directly observing the actions/words of others almost always wins out for me. I will give much more consideration to expert advice when it matches what I’d experienced myself though. I really do feel that some people become too analytical, but yet live in a fantasy world. Political correctness does not always state things as they really are.

@gorillapaws I generally don’t come here for “expert” opinions, where anyone who says so can call themselves an expert. However, it’s lots of fun to toss opinions around, and generally talk about stuff.

And as far as arrogant assholes go, I don’t look to such a person for an expert opinion on anything. Asshole-ness can cloud even an expert’s opinion and render it useless. The best such a person can hope for from me is that I’ll take their opinion under advisement. I’d always follow another equally qualified person’s opinion first.

@snowberry Generally an expert will be able to back up their opinions with facts/evidence/reasoning. It’s possible that people are faking their credentials, but I think it would be hard to keep that up for very long before others found them out.

As far as assholes go, I’ve been on plenty of programming forums where that attitude is the norm. If you want free help from expert strangers to solve a bug you’re stuck on, then your choices are to:
a. give up or
b. learn to appreciate correct answers from smart people willing to sacrifice their time for free in order to help you out and tolerate any abrasive personality that you may come across. I have received thousands of dollars worth of free consulting by people volunteering their time to help out strangers. They may be abrasive at times, but they are good people who mean well.

I suppose this has colored my perception of truthfulness vs. pleasant demeanor.

@gorillapaws I said before- I don’t come here for free help. Anyone who does is certainly taking their chances.

Furthermore, I’ve PAID for expert opinions from folks who turned out to be assholes, and ended up following their directives which resulted in my harm. If I’m going to work with someone for any length of time (more than once), and if they turn out to be an asshole, I’m sure not going to give them my approval for a second go-round. How stupid could that be?

This goes for doctors, attorneys, real-estate, you name it. I choose to vote with my feet, which is as it should be. The moral of the story (for me anyway) is, If a person doesn’t know how to treat people right, they have no right to expect to succeed in business. Of course, some rascals manage to succeed anyway, and I hope there’s a special place in hell for those who do, but I can’t do anything about that.

I know several experts in the area of electronics and programming (for example). They often volunteer their time (and one recently resolved a problem I had). These folks are not only knowledgeable and extremely honest, they are also decent and kind people. Regardless of my problem, life is too short to hang out with negative, arrogant, or generally unpleasant people.

I still vote with my feet.

No. I expect every adult I converse with to have grade 10.