The internet and informed dissent.

摘要

The parents of a 6-year-old boy awaiting a tonsillectomy in our department rang to cancel his admission on the morning of his operation. The night before his admission the little boy had searched the internet for information on tonsillectomy, and Google had led him straight to an unabridged graphic YouTube video of the operation. Not surprisingly, he concluded that he did not want the operation, and regrettably his place on the operating list could not be filled.