I'll just post my thoughts here.
Hystrix has a very valid point. A lot of us forget who we were. We were once beginners ourselves. We asked plenty of questions in the early days as we started our hobby. Day by day, we learn to digest more information, new or old and until now, we still do. Does this give us the right to spite others who are eager to learn new things as they venture around this hobby? Perhaps those who are besotted and too proud to carry around probably would. Remember that we learn a lot of new things everyday. You are no exception to that nor does that not give you the right to spite the eager learners.
Yes, we have the sticky threads in each forum but not all sticky threads provide adequate information and have to be updated constantly to keep the readers informed. Are these sticky threads really mandatory for everyone to read? No, it is not. Each and every member has the choice whether to bide his time to read and digest more information or not. Whether his questions are already answered by the sticky threads, whether he wishes to read the old and sticky threads or not, does that still give him the right to post questions that may seem repetitive to others who have been around here for some time or already familiar with the questions answered countless times? Yes, it does. This is exactly why such forum exists. This is exactly why we have a community here otherwise where would we get all the vital information we need? There are so much information often overlooked and questions whether seemingly repetitive or not, give off a new spin to the situation and allow us to open up more thoughts that we have overlooked before.
To the new members, please do not hesitate to ask. Whether your questions seem vague or seemingly stupid (perhaps to you) or not, feel free to ask. There is no stopping in the learning process.
Now if the listener himself is not willing to accept factual advice given to him, how many times it was repeated to him, that would be another story. I can understand completely how frustrating it is to keep him on the right track. In the end, that is his choice. If he feels he is right and you are wrong (even though the information you gave him is correct), you really have no choice but to leave this up to him. Will he eventually learn later on you are correct? Yes, he will but he will learn it himself in the hard way. People eventually get there and they get what they deserve for how they acted towards advice that they asked for.
Lastly, what we are missing here is respect. If you are not respecting the people, how will they respect you at all? Just because you already think you know too much or it may seem to you, it doesn't mean you are within the right to spite anyone because you think their questions are a waste of time. If you think their questions are a waste of time to you, you are not forced to answer every question that pops up. You have a choice whether to advise in a positive manner or just back off and let others volunteer to answer the questions to the eager listeners.
Hope this helps.
