I think it's just the "Law of Triviality" [1]. They probably don't know enough about algae to answer the question, so they focus on the parts that they do under

I think it's just the "Law of Triviality" [1]. They probably don't know enough about algae to answer the question, so they focus on the parts that they do understand. I don't think it's unique to "this particular set of people" - I see this over and over again with people from all walks of life. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_of_triviality https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_of_triviality