Funny the positions people take on this issue. It seems to me that this should be a no-brainer accepted issue that newBs should and should want to learn from their elders (not necessarily chronological) in a new sport or group. Guess I'm just old school in how I approach wisdom. I'd rather learn from the mistakes of others instead of committing them myself and suffering or causing suffering. What is interesting to me is that this is kind of a timeless issue with new growth in a sport. Case in point:

I began snowboarding about 25 years ago. I distinctly remember the early growing pains of fighting negative perception by skiers and resorts. That perception changed pretty quickly and snowboarders had a good period of acceptance as equal, responsible users of the mountain. Then in the late 90s snowboarding exploded in popularity and tons of new riders hit the hills who had never been skiers previously. They not only were clueless about mountain rules/ettiquette/tradition but also brought an us/them mentality to the mountain. Not surprisingly the "snowboarders are aweful punks" mentality reemerged. Now, lots of us (skiers and boarders) would try often to politely but firmly "mentor" riders we encountered to bring them up to speed and restore some degree of safety and harmony (yes I'm aware how flowery that sounds). Not an easy task sometimes BUT there was always the "carrot" that an eager and responsible new rider would be shown the secret stashes. Much harder once these new hoards had lots of web access to tons of information (good/bad) and mountain guides and then wanted nothing to do with their potential mentors. Hence the rise and continuous introduction of lame, unsafe skiers and riders. Ease of access, tons of "info", and no motivation to learn correctly...

At least in the late 80-90s when surfing had a similar bump in interest most places had a fairly rock solid mentoring model... The elders tell you what to do and not do. You don't listen, you mess up and you put someone at risk then you get punched and sent packing to shore until you figure out how to obey the safe traditions and your elders. I'm not a fan of the violence by any means but it was/is without a doubt an effective mechanism. Sadly, road riding is easily accessible and group rides have only one ultimate mechanism for unwilling learners and that is to un-invite them. So few groups actually do that though even if they have elders who take it upon themselves to try to educate more and roll their eyes less...