Robert,
I see your point but I think it's incorrect in this context. Well... I've never met Todd so I'm going to have to take your word on that one, but, in general, things are neither so simple or so complex as you make out.
The best answers are often just better questions, or better ways of thinking about the original question. Look at the bulk of your post... it's filled with new questions and new factors to consider. Can you dress around the CZ? Do people on the internet know what they are talking about? Wouldn't you be happier concealed carrying an 870 under a trench coat? Is the unqualified opinion of one indivdual of any value to another individual who may face very different physical, legal, and financial challenges? Does Todd enjoy Mexican food? New questions and new ways of looking at the problem.
Your sensitivity to those issues comes from your experience and real-world knowledge.... experience the people asking these questions don't have. As you discuss the issue with them, asking additional questions, you transmit some of your knowledge -- some of the benefit of your experience and sensitivity -- and allow them to consider their problems in new ways. You don't really answer the question for them -- you give them tools they didn't have before. That's why they are here and perhaps even why you are here. It is silly to think that the questioners are going to rush out and follow whatever advice they are given... they are going to consider the sources, consider the merits of the points raised, and come up with their own answer based only in part on the information they collect. What they are getting from the forum is not a final authoritative answer but a range of opinions and arguments that can help them to clarify their own thinking.
Questions of bests, in their ideal form, boil down to discussions of the factors that make something ideal. In our CZ, Audry, and Vega questions the salient factors may be material properties, parts compatibility, and parts availability. The concrete question becomes a foil, clarifies and illuminates the general question, and, more importantly, helps us to convey a more abstract level of understanding.
Of course you don't get much of that with simple absolute answers... when the fanbois start chanting their favorite names with no why or wherefore they aren't really contributing so much as stating allegiance. That's a shame but even they can be helpful. They can be a fulcrum for you as you attempt to lever open ignorant minds. They can also be quite funny and are an ever-present source of feelings of superiority...very nice to have around if you are feeling down.
Even wrong answers can make pretty good tools. Radioactive decay can be reversed with rubbing alcohol? That's an awesome answer... it gives you an opportunity to discuss beta decay, the importance of cleanliness, and the reliability of information posted online all in one go. Ignorance may not be pretty but it can be very useful from time to time. Even the original poster of that wisdom has probably learned something.
Theoretical analyses and disputations are more than pastimes... they are a way to generate and convey knowledge. Knowledge of the sort that can keep people alive or out of prison. That is more than useful... it's the essence of why forums such as this are important. What the participants do with that knowledge is up to them. Some will misapply it and come to harm... perhaps worse harm than if they'd never learned anything in the first place... but others will gain enough to more than offset the harm. It's not really fair that some will come to harm but biology happens, deviation is normal, can't always get what you want, and 100 other trite ways of saying "life ain't fair".
And...no favorite color. I'm a black and white kind of Ed.
