If you are a scary cat then you would probably be at lost after the long run of everything because scared people that go into crypto tend to do rubbish and end up regretting and causing maybe others that even showed them or told them the idea. The advice you gave is probably the best because reading and studying on your own is actually the best way to learn and go about things when it comes to how the whole system works.
It’s perfectly possible to ask for someone advice about crypto as it will really help you a lot however you as someone who asked for advice should take responsibility fully. No matter how bad the advice was you have no right to blame them because you were the one who asked for it. So in the end it should be you researching on your own.
Bad advices does not help at all though, so it's better to just do your own research. We definitely have all the tools we can use to make the learning generally much more easier. No matter how complicated the blockchain is for a not so techy person, if one is very interested to learn while earning then asking for an advice to someone in the crypto community might not be necessary. Reading some crypto discussions, watching video about crypto, and even low key joining a group of crypto enthusiast could already be a huge help to continue learning and progress.
I don't usually rely on advices, but If I do, I am just testing what the others think about the things I'm about to do.