Please, we need all the encouragement from the experienced forum users to keep our hope alive.
I think this thread by Fillippone should be enough motivation for newbies:
Ranking up is possible! 2900 Merits earned in less than 12 months!My 11 Hints! Newbies worry about rank and merits a lot more than actually improving their knowledge of the technical and non technical aspects of Bitcoin. Which makes me wonder what is their motivation for creating an account here, I believe buying bitcoins and learning how to safely store your coins should be the most important thing to a newbie.