At B&N the other day, I order my usual coffee with soy milk, and as soon as I see the barista about to pour what's left of the vitasoy into my coffee, I tell her to stop. I start to go into an explanation of how the really cold foamy dregs of milk at the bottom of the carton coagulate in very hot coffee and that...this is where the barista gives me a look and says, "so you want me to open a new carton...gotcha!"
I know at first it seems like I was trying too hard, but I had good reason since this had occurred before and I wanted to avoid 1) wasting a cup of coffee, 2) wasting mine and everyone else's time in line and 3) avoid having the barista go through the customer conciliation process that could have been avoided in the first place (coagulated milk&coffee is not a pretty sight!). But the barista was not interested in the why of the solution that would avert repeating the problem in the future; she only wanted the solution itself.
Prior education makes no difference. From the bookstore coffee stand to a physician's office to board of trustees of a major corporation, the why of it has become less important. And why I hope you would ask is this so? The primary reason given seems to be lack of time; everyone's too busy to spend time figuring out the why. I contend that its just the opposite: not taking the time to figure out why makes us more busy. And busy doing things that are duplicative and useless. The stop-observe-evaluate and then do mentality is becoming rare. Technology is being treated more as an added burden rather than a tool for efficiency.
Bottomline: Think what a day without cell phones, texting, google, twitter, facebook, and RSS would be like. Then plan the day out in a way that technology actually benefits it. Don't be beholden to your resources, make use of them as you best see fit to accomplish your goals.