At least you gave the OP some useful information in your first post, before telling him he should have seen that covered in the exam. Maybe you think he "should know" about propagation, but apparently he didn't. That's why he asked the question. And at least you admit you don't know much about certain aspects of ham radio, like antenna design. But if you asked a question on the forums about antennas, would you like to be told that you "should know" the answer, without getting a helpful response.
I freely admit that my knowledge of antennas is just enough to get the job done and to select what will work best for my station, given my exact model of tower, rotator, mast, and desired results—and price. If I have antenna questions I will will pool all the knowledge I can on the specific topic, then post saying something like "I'm considering tri-feeding my C31XR rather than single feed, but I'm wondering what the disadvantages would be," or "I have three yagis (WARC, 40m, and 10-15-20), with a C31XR being the centerpiece and killer antenna. I'd like to consolidate everything into two high-performance multi-monoband antennas so I can mount my 6m LFA on the main tower and gain another 35' of height. Is it worth the money and effort, and if so, any specific model recommendations?" I've covered the basics, I've done a bit of research, but my unfamiliarity with newer antenna designs and their manufacturers leaves a pretty big gap in my knowledge, which such a post would likely (or hopefully) fill.
One can have "intellectual curiosity" in one area, but not in another.
There I disagree. Intellectual curiosity doesn't mean
knowledge of a topic, it means the desire or just the openness to learn and the willingness to read up a bit first. My favourite words are who, what, when, where, why, and how. After about age fifty, too many suffer from Calcification of Thought™, and to me, that's the biggest sin of all. My wife tells me interesting factoids about birds and bird calls all the time. I'll never be a birder, but I find it fascinating. Lather, rinse, repeat. That's not to say I have my favourites--DXing, Contesting, Jeeps, Texas-style brisket, H. Upmann cigars, and Ardbeg single malt Scotch. But I'll try SOTA if I can drive my Jeep to the summit, DMR and YSF, Memphis-style dry rub ribs, Montecristo cigars (or pipes instead of cigars), and Macallan Scotch or Teeling Irish Whiskey. Anything other than a Jeep? No. Vegetables? No, they're what my food eats. But I'll always be curious. And weird.
