Am I an asshole for not being helpful?

[senjuro]

"Give a man a fire, he is warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he is warm for the rest of his life." Terry Pratchett.

I love that one. I say it quite regularly.

and toss in several veiled insults they won't detect or understand so you can laugh later on. People have no problems with people who appear to be on their side.

Also a personal favourite tactic of mine. It's funny, because it seems obvious to oneself that you're totally burning them, but they're oblivious to the fact that you're intellectually slashing them to ribbons.