I never really thought about it in a sense of capacity more so time or availabilty. I doubt the average consumer would be able to dedicate a portion of his life to understanding what goes on during the developing of a typical game or have access to the knowledge, although you may be right about the general population not being capable of understanding.
I wasn't referring so much to making sure everybody on the planet knows multivariable calculus before they're allowed to play a game. More to be aware that said knowledge goes into making one. People don't have to know in full detail the interdependencies inherent in something as simple (on the surface) as being able to switch weapons in an FPS, but be aware that it's there, and that there are things about it that they'll never understand.
Yeah, the industry itself has been rather closed off for a long time, and things like NDAs do mean a lot of knowledge stays within the industry -- but I'm at least saying that idiots shouldn't kid themselves into thinking they're anything more than idiots. Just like I don't kid myself into thinking that I'm not a sociopath.
I would say that people who invest time and money into an entertainment medium should be able to criticize it without being in the know. As to say, if I watch a movie I should be able to criticize it whether or not Im a director and fully understand the ramifications of the job.
A movie is actually a pretty good example because the fruits of everybody's labors is present in a purely audiovisual medium. Everything you get is straightforward feedback of what went into making that film. Sure, you may never know what a key grip, but at least you don't pretend to be better at his job than he is. That's rather different from how it is with the average gamer. That may be harder to see on a board like this one where intelligent conversation actually takes place, but this board or psinext or aceshardware are hardly representative of the masses.
Even if I teach a class then only those that teach or work in education should be able to criticize me or the job I have done because they can relate. I wouldnt necessarily agree with that.
Education is a bit of a bad example because the product is actually people, in a manner of speaking, and it's something many people have been through. Moreover, it's not something that can be judged so readily until after the fact. That too, I don't think the average child actually going to school has a clue what a teacher's job entails, but the parents of those children have a better chance of having a clue, and that too, they know what sort of a variable their own children are (hopefully) -- overall, it's not something that the "clientele" is totally divorced from.
I personally think that anyone that plays games or has some remote interest in games appreciates it to some level or another (despite how the internet may make people appear to be, or whether these people acknowledge it or not).
I can believe that of various individuals such as yourself, but I do think you give humanity in general too much credit.
