Should there be restrictions on giving career advice in online forums?

[Bladibla]

It seems that everyone can post in the 'careers and advice' forum.

But by doing this, wouldn't we be jeprodizing the lives of other people with crappy advice? I'm not saying that everybody in the PF gives crap advice. But what i saying is, people like me, a 16 year old, given the permission to comment on other people's lives and telling them advice on what to do (i.e. what degrees in physics etc..) would be quite..misleading and dangerous.

So what I am saying is: wouldn't it be appropriate for there to be 'ristrictions' on the careers forum, to allow only (somewhat) mentoring advice to the people who seek it?

 

[brewnog]

By that logic, wouldn't it be appropriate to place restrictions on EVERY forum? Wouldn't it be dangerous having a 16 year old giving advice on how to model vibrations in an aircraft superstructure?

All advice given in a forum such as this (whether it's career advice or technical advice) should be taken with a pinch of salt. With time, it's easy to spot the members who give good sound advice.

 

[Moonbear]

I agree with brewnog's assessment. It's pretty obvious when someone is just posting advice with no experience to back it up. For many of the questions there, though, it's really up to the person who is making the post to choose their own direction and ultimately decide for themselves what to do. All the advice in the world is useless if it's really not what they want to do anyway.

But, throughout the forums, the system of mentors, science advisor/homework helper medals, and "guru" awards are there to help you identify some of the members who the board management deems particularly trustworthy in providing sound advice. There are of course others who have not been recognized who will also give sound advice, but when in doubt, or when there's major disagreement, that's one way of helping members identify some individuals they can trust.

 

[Evo]

I agree with brewnog's assessment. It's pretty obvious when someone is just posting advice with no experience to back it up. For many of the questions there, though, it's really up to the person who is making the post to choose their own direction and ultimately decide for themselves what to do. All the advice in the world is useless if it's really not what they want to do anyway.

But, throughout the forums, the system of mentors, science advisor/homework helper medals, and "guru" awards are there to help you identify some of the members who the board management deems particularly trustworthy in providing sound advice. There are of course others who have not been recognized who will also give sound advice, but when in doubt, or when there's major disagreement, that's one way of helping members identify some individuals they can trust.

Just remember that even a mentor, ribbon holder or guru may only have knowledge in a very specific field. That was a good point brought up by Moonbear when the ribbons were first awarded. What Brewnog said is good advice, take all advice with a pinch of salt, use common sense, do research on your own. I'm sure most advice is well intended but still could be completely wrong.

 

[Moonbear]

Just remember that even a mentor, ribbon holder or guru may only have knowledge in a very specific field.

That's true, though experience on the board tells me that those who have been entrusted with medals also distinguish between subjects in which they have expertise and those in which they are guessing or speculating.

Personally, I like having that biology ribbon so I don't need to keep sticking in the disclaimer: "I'm a biologist, not a (physicist/engineer/mathematician)."