I just went out for a smoke and I had another thought 9I do my best thinking while I'm outside smoking because there are no distractions)

Anyway, it occured to me that a lot of times my own advice and the way I word my suggestions to people have a lot to do with how well I know the person and what I know about that persons personality.

For example, there are some members and I know that they are very research-involved. So for those members if they post "I have a problem A" I know that I can just say "why not try drug Z" -- and I know that the member will look up drug Z, find out what it is and what it does, check for interaction with their current meds, look up how well drug Z works for problem A, and then if they feel it might help, they will go to their doc and ask about possibly trying drug Z.

On the other hand, I know that there are some members who if they post "I have problem A" and if I want to suggest drug Z, I will provide a lot more info and word it more like a suggestion, because I know that some members are the type that will see "why not try drug Z" and without even looking it up or knowing what it is they will go to their doc and say "I want to try drug Z" -- so for those members if I make a suggestion I word it differently, provide more information, etc.. and I do the same thing (providing more info, wording more carefully) with members who I do not know very well.

So, I may sometimes give advice that looks quick and looks like it has no information to back it up, but in those cases it is because I have known the member for a while and know that they will do their own search for info whether I provide info in my post or not.

It's something to take into account anytime we might see a post that looks like it's less responsible in terms of offering information to back up a suggestion/advice. The person giving the advice might know the other person well enough to know that they will be responsible about seeking out information.