Another parable

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/There%27s_a_Hole_in_My_Bucke...

Yea, I’m aware of the XY problem. It is still irritating when someone presumes to know your problem statement better than you and insists on having you change your question. Sometimes I simply want to learn the answer to this very specific question and not keep restating my problem until I find one the answerer knows the answer to.

A better way to respond would be: “Here is how to do precisely what you’re asking, but there may be a better way if you more clearly stated your end goal.”

The XY problem is a terrible name, because it implies there are two levels, the one asked about and the real one. But just as in that story there can be many different levels, and it's hard to know which is the right one to attack.

Maybe the real issue is finding yak fur, or maybe its a razor, or maybe its climbing gear, or maybe its the passport. Or maybe the yak fur turns out to also just be a way to solve an even realer problem?