> 'Did you do (basic research)' is an impolite way to suggest someone did not. I ask basic questions because I often have conversation partners who have not do

> 'Did you do (basic research)' is an impolite way to suggest someone did not. I ask basic questions because I often have conversation partners who have not done their basic research. In the past, I've wasted a lot of time having mid-to-advanced level discussions about topics with people who -as it turns out- didn't have even the most rudimentary grasp of the fundamentals of the topic. I ask brief clarifying questions of this sort out of respect for the busy schedules of myself and my conversation partners. More than that, I've found that presuming to know something about other people often leads to hurt feelings and wildly incorrect assumptions. :) From the start, I've been behaving in exactly the way you claim that you want me to behave. I even explained -at length- the reasoning behind my first and second comments and my conversational MO. After your reply to my first comment, you've failed to meaningfully engage in any further discussion, citing my failure to behave in the way that you want me to behave as the reason for your non-participation. We're getting really far afield here, but do you make it a policy to apologise to people (who aren't paying you) who continue to fail to understand something long after you've made that thing clear to everyone else in the room?