Can We Learn Anything Valid From The Internet?

This discussion comes from a senseless dialog between me and another person in a particular forum. She claims that everything I have learned is from the Internet, and therefore is not valid. Compared with her learning experience, which happens to be a doctorate in Veterinary care, mine is miniscule.

But let's say that what she is saying about my learning everything from the internet is true, does that mean that whatever I learned is wrong? That brings up the question, Is there anything valid that we can learn from on the Internet?

Whenever we learn something, there has to be an authority figure teaching the subject. If people just throw out their opinions, then there is no authority. But if someone is trained in a particular field, then he or she does have some weight in what they are saying.

There are at least 3 areas of authority, and you can find all of them on the Internet in various places.

1. The Scriptures - God's word has been put on the Internet. We know that Scripture is the final rule for all things. This is the ultimate standard of authority. Any other valid authority must be based on the principles of Scripture. Since the Scriptures are on the Internet, we can learn something valid from the Internet.

2. Teachers, professors, coaches, doctors - We can learn from those who have been trained in a specific area, when they share their knowledge by means of the Internet. Some knowledge is not accurate though, and we need to be discerning. We have to see the bigger picture.

3. Testimonies - There are many valid testimonies people share in life, and the Internet is a great way to communicate testimonies. You can read about a person's encounter with the living God. You can listen to podcasts or Youtube to learn how a specific product helped a person get well. You can read articles of how people defeated cancer by following a certain protocol.

Naturally, we will have to be discerning as we read. We should be discerning anyway, in all areas of our lives. But we can learn, and form ideas by what we learn. We can learn to separate the truth from the lies. We learn discernment as we walk with the Lord and feed our souls on Scripture. We can also learn what is actually true vs. speculation or wishful thinking proposed as truth.