I get it from my father. He was one of the smartest people I've ever known, but if you asked him anything, you better have a lot of free time cause it is going back to first principles.

I know his reasoning was that he wanted me to learn how to understand and find the answer, not just be given it, and now I'm guilty of the same thing.

I don't do it at work, or at least I try not to, as they are paying me for the solution not a dissertation, but if friends or family ask for tech support, they are getting the whole explanation while I solve the problem.

I guess another part of it is that like me, he really didn't have anyone to talk tech to other than his family, and really just enjoyed the time being able to share things he was knowledgeable about.