There is a lot of knowledge out there. Here you're probably right in that this happens everywhere, but I think that there's a world of difference between a one-time questioner, Joe User, and someone who just doesn't get a certain point on a listserv.
A list member is (presumably) part of the community; Joe User, on the other hand, isn't. Often, these Joe Users aren't receptive to just being pointed to the relevant information; they need to be walked through it. Occasionally, and this is what gets up the nose of many technically savvy people, they *demand* to be walked through it.
The list member, on the other hand, has contributed in some sense in the past and presumably will continue to contribute in the future. One is much more willing to go to a certain effort because reciprocity will at some point be honoured. I don't get that from Joe User.
I don't get all the debates that go on on LBO-Talk. Some I don't have the background for; some are simply above me. Some I might think I know, but don't, and I probably make some eyes roll occasionally. That said, I don't expect to be taught a course in leftist politics or economics, gratis, merely because I'm ignorant of them, and I certainly wouldn't if I popped out of nowhere and demanded it.
Marco
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> Marco Anglesio | What upsets me is not that you <
> mpa at the-wire.com | lied to me, but that from now <
> http://www.the-wire.com/~mpa | on I can no longer believe you. <
> | --Nietzsche <
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