> Sometimes it's on the expert to make it clear to the non-expert. Other times it's on the newbie to learn the basics so they understand the answer to their que

> Sometimes it's on the expert to make it clear to the non-expert. Other times it's on the newbie to learn the basics so they understand the answer to their question. I think most of the times it is on the expert to be clear, because as an expert you should know what complexity your experise involves, while this cannot be expected of the non-expert. That being said, it is totally okay as an expert to answer in the sense of "that involves a lot of things that you need to know beforehand" and then give them a hint where they can learn those things and ask them to come back when they did their homework. What does not help anyone is if you just answer the question without giving context. Great, technically you were right, but you are also the only person who can tell it was. Communicating clearly is a separate skill. Not every expert has that skill. But every expert could potentially profit from having that skill. If you have that skill it does not mean you now need to put in a lot of work in explaining things to everybody – but it means you can explain things if it is needed. People are surprisingly happy if someone manages to clear things up for them without looking down on them or going into teacher/preacher mode.