I asked a question on a forum about why a command wasn’t working. They said I didn’t have an interpreter installed on my computer and were making fun of me. I showed them that I had one installed and that wasn’t the problem, but they continued to talk sarcastically to me without explaining anything. Only one of them suggested the cause of the problem, and he was right, so I thanked him. Then another guy said that if I couldn’t figure it out myself, I should do something else and that he was tired of people like me. After that, I deleted my question, and now I’m not sure. And I don’t think I want to ask for help ever again
“Being mean to people is a good thing because it teaches them to [something]” is an indefensible sentiment.
Yes, nobody is entitled to your answer to a question and you’re fine to just not answer any question you don’t want to. Being a dick about it, though, is actively harmful to both the person you’re being a dick to, and the community you’re participating in.
It’s interesting that people defending being a dickhead so frequently fall back to accusations about intelligence. E.g.:
For a group of people so very concerned with intelligence, I wonder if anyone has taken the time to explain to you the concept of emotional intelligence.