[dragon wench]

This morning I have been doing some research on Google that I suppose can be loosely described as "medical."
Initially I was looking up information on eczema. While I have been in remission for a long time and rarely have any flareups, it is something I have lived with since very young. Thus, I can fairly say that I already know *a lot* about the condition.

I also was looking up various neurological disorders and similar conditions because I'm wondering if a 'family member' behaves the way she does for reasons that have nothing to do with rudeness or insensitivity. But in this regard I'm entirely out of my depth, and I'm well aware of it. I do not know about this area from either a professional or personal perspective, so I'm just making stabs in the dark.

This got me to thinking about the role of the internet in acquiring knowledge. Is it a good thing, a bad thing, or somewhere in between?

Certainly, I do think it can help people to gain some level of control over a medical condition, providing that they can recognise legitimate sites from the chaff.

However, I also think it can lead to people making wildly inaccurate pop guesses. Or, it can encourage people to self-medicate and not seek the treatments they actually need.

I'm not sure, I see pros and cons to all of this.

Opinions?