The Dangers of Internet Information
Take What You Read With a Grain of Salt
We live in the information age — but not everything we read online is useful. In this blog post, attorney Craig Hersch shares his thoughts on the limits of doing your own research. Read the full article at FloridaEstatePlanning.com/information-on-the-internet. I imagine it’s perpetually frustrating for physicians when patients demand specific medications after an advertisement influences them. Don’t you love the disclaimers? Over happy scenes of grandparents skipping along the beach with grandchildren, a serious narrative voice quickly says something like, “This medication may cause frequent vomiting, urination, and even death! Stop taking the medication if you notice vision loss or blood trickles out of your ears ….” Typically, patients who ask for the medications they saw on TV lack context. They don’t have a medical degree, and what little they know about whatever ails them is something they may have learned on the internet or by watching TV. That’s enough knowledge (even if false) to make them a danger to themselves. I sometimes encounter this in my law practice. Suppose a client is interested in forming a charitable remainder trust, so he researches it online. That’s fine — learn all you can. But the information he’s pulled up may be dated, taken out of context, or so broad in scope as to be useless to the particulars of his situation.
Information is easily available to everyone right now, and you can successfully Google just about any topic. But the information you find is usually not specific to your situation and could be false. It is mere
information; it is not knowledge. Knowledge is accumulated over years of study and practice in any given field.
A true professional has the wisdom to know when, how, and why to apply the knowledge. Wisdom is something that’s gained over the years, certainly. I have also found, however, that those individuals I consider to be wise have an inherent quality that seems to be factory-installed. They’ve always had the capacity for wisdom and only needed life experience to shape it into something valuable. You don’t find that by watching TV advertisements or searching on Google for a few hours. Go ahead and do your research on your topic as well as on the professional that you hire. Assuming you are comfortable with that professional, ask questions and really listen
to the answers. If the answers appear reasonable, relax and trust his or her judgment. If not, find a professional that you can trust.
Tasty Spinach Artichoke Dip
INGREDIENTS
TAKE A BREAK!
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8 oz spinach leaves
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1/4 tsp black pepper
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese 1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided Sliced bread, crackers, or tortilla chips for serving
1 cup sour cream
3/4 cup chopped marinated artichoke hearts
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1 tsp minced garlic
1/2 tsp salt
DIRECTIONS 1. Preheat oven to 375 F. Coat a small baking dish with cooking spray. 2. In a medium pan, steam or sauté spinach until wilted. When spinach cools, ring out excess water, then chop coarsely. 3. In a large bowl, mix cream cheese, sour cream, spinach, artichoke hearts, garlic, salt, pepper, Parmesan cheese, and 3/4 cup of mozzarella cheese. 4. Spread the mixture onto the prepared baking dish. Top with remaining mozzarella cheese. 5. Bake for 20 minutes or until the dip is bubbly. Turn the oven to broil and cook for an
additional 2–3 minutes so the cheese will begin to brown. 6. Immediately serve with bread, crackers, or tortilla chips.
ANSWER ON TOP OF PAGE 4
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