Interesting topic,,,
First Andrew is not as black and white as some think.
This is one of his comments on another forum about the subject :

"To use an analogy from other outdoor sports, "backpacking" is as broad as "skiing" or "biking." But within those other sports, there are different sub-types: alpine/downhill skiing, cross-country skiing, road biking, mountain biking, freestyle, etc. Skiers and bikes are aware of their inner differences and know the gear and skills they need for a particular sub-type. "

At White Blaze there was a discussion about the term "backpacking" a couple or so years ago.
The premise was about covering 30-50 miles a day with a 5lbs pack or thereabout.
I pointed out that they were talking about "trail running" a totally different style from the typical AT hiking.
That is : different goals, different gear, different food,,, but many disagreed because it was all the same to them.
My point was to highlight that if you do those miles what you recommend will not apply to the average walker.
Example : you have a 40f rated quilt.
So you get cold not longer after midnight.
Solution : get up and start walking...
Brilliant...

In the past I have had some "battles" here with a couple of individuals precisely because they could not see that what they recommended applied only to their location and style of "backpacking" .
(for example the famous tent with wood stove inside. Yes so very practical if you do 20 plus miles a day...)

Often that simply happens because some have never been outside their area or never been exposed to other types of gear .
For example as a teen I never carried water, that was because there was water every 10-30 min in any direction where I used to walk.
However here in Australia I have had to carry 3 days worth so I can see this from both points of view.

One point that is becoming more common is the one Lori mentioned :

"The farther removed from nature you are raised, the more likely you are to go to REI and purchase a list of heavy "security blanket" gear.'
More people grow up in Cities so apart from taking the "security blanket" with them they also lack very basic skills such as when to start, pace, how much and when to drink/eat and when and how to rest.
A simple point is clothing.
Note how often people take layers off when they stop (because they are sweat soaked...) when at that point I would be putting layers on...
Most of this is usually filed under "common sense" but common sense is just acquired knowledge so not that common.