Stop talking down to beginners

I’ve seen it far too many times now. Someone new to guitar asks how something works, and the replies are full of pretentious nonsense from people who’ve completely forgotten what it’s like to know nothing. That’s presuming that they actually know something.

Gatekeeping newbies makes you look like a bit of a dickhead and ironically, makes me (and probably many others) think that you’re not that good yourself. I understand that it’s difficult to remember that you once knew nothing and what now seem like obvious concepts were once a mystery but patronising new players that are asking how/why and what doesn’t help in the slightest.

If you can’t explain a concept without sounding smug or implying that they should know, you’d make a terrible teacher because you clearly can’t put yourself in the mindset of a beginner. Either humble yourself, practice some retrospection and help out or do one.