I had similar experiences with stone counter fabricators, about all kinds of things.
First, no. Then, no, impossible, never done, no no no.
It IS weird to see them deny something can be done, and then to observe them telling you it's ok to do it.

Trade professionals won't know what knowledge is out there until someone points them to discussion threads. It will take many years before it becomes standard practice to go web-see what is do-able and has been done with other people's similar experiences. Everyone I have hired in the last few years has shown me things too. I have shown them a lot of things.

My experience is that the tradespeople of Mexican (and Latino) heritage are the most honest, and with the least amount of ego at stake when I talk about things I want "this way" which may not be the way they have mostly seen. They don't have to fold as they never resisted me in the first place --fwiw. The Italo types are far more "ego" / me / "I know" / " I do this" / "we do this" / it's a long struggle first; there's more time spent on steps required by cultural upbringing, like "show respect", and they seem sensitive about being treated certain ways, before they will fold. Just for fair measure, I'll mention the German types: a lot of them are phrase-bound. They make up key word phrases and they know how to use them. For good and for bad.

People who post to discussions are a minority, in any segment of society.
People who read discussions are a minority, in any segment of society.
People who know what a discussion forum is, are ALSO a minority, in any segment of society except a few.

Things I've "educated people" about:
having an inline fan that one can buy all by oneself separately from all other parts
having a marble sill piece cut at a 60 degree angle instead of a 45
having a deep drawer under a sink so there's no false drawer front there
having no P trap under the sink, just a tight elbow bend
putting the sink P trap closer to the vented stack, just so it's out of the way and out of view
removing the bottom plate of the cabinet box when there are only drawers there
acoustic membrane under a tile floor
wedi + caulk
using stronger steel for studs instead of typical metal studs
kerdi
plastering straight onto a concrete wall; no drywall needed; no studs either!

I think my gc has done very simple style kitchens.
He had never heard of
 Alzac
 kick space drawers
 tapmaster
 stainless steel counter with a welded sink
 light strips along the inside of the glass cabinets near door hinges

I gave up a few of my selections because of that (and budget). He often has a bemused look on his face when I discuss some new idea. He is under 40 so I am a little surprised he does not want to "widen" his experience with something different.

Not too much about construction (my cabinet guy knows a truly amazing amount of stuff), but a lot of education about appliances and all the things I need space for.

--Induction ranges were a foreign concept, and the fact that they need 50 amp circuits, and the plug in has to be in a specific place behind the range.
--That DW's are not all the same depth.
--Putting extra insulation around the DW for sound-proofing.
--Granite composite (Silgranit) sinks.
--Soap dispensers with a NeverMT attachment.
--That a phone extension doesn't need a phone line plug, just an outlet for the recharger base.
--The amount of research, shopping, and bargain-hunting that can be done on the internet.

Appliances in general, induction, integrated appliances as opposed to merely paneled, stainless steel counters, dishwasher drawers (!), linoleum (isn't vinyl), girls know stuff, drawers are neat, kick pedal on trash pullout is supposed to eject the trash, TapMaster, yeah ya DO have to seal up that hole in the attic firewall, etc. etc.

The cabinet maker learned stuff. I'd recommend him. The GC? I doubt it, on both counts.

I asked my contractor to put a ""v" groove at the bottom edge of the door and a corresponding track in the pocket door wall void based on what I've read on THS, postings by Brickeyee. It makes a lot of sense to me. This prevents the pocket door from swinging out of the frame. It was news to my contractor, but he agreed to do it without a question.

Do you mean like when I explained to the electrician how the phone was wired wrong, but he made me get a "phone guy", who was about to disassemble all the phone lines when I got through to him that he just needed to rewire the jacks? Lots of flattering male ego stroking there while I told him his job.

I had to use a highlighter to show my GC where the installation manual showed how to install an appliance. Repeatedly telling him (anything) didn't work.

I introduced the toe-kick drawers to my cabinet makers. They were quite puzzled by them and it took them awhile to get it right. They said that when other people walked into their place as they were working on my stuff they were very intrigued so in the end they thanked me because now they have something new to sell.

plugmold
alzak trim

Paneling a DW with partial overlay doors
Counter-height windows (with no trim on the top and bottom)
Installing apron front sinks
Batch-feed disposal
Deck mount potfiller
Open shelving in the base cabinets (root vegetable storage)
Open base cabinet for dish towel drying rack
Soapstone
Sliding cabinet doors

Couldn't have done it without you!

For my GC, I'd have to admit that he really really has been amazing. So I haven't actually educated him on anything, but I HAVE shown him countless pictures of what I "have to have" and he answers, "No problem, we'll figure it out" and he does! So, he has figured out ways to make things happen for my unusual requests.

I have enlightened my cabinetmaker though on the countless ways that I wanted them to make it "cleaner" and less fussy, and it was like trying to make a shoebox out of eggs. They make traditional styled cabinets, I wanted them to make a Euro-style cabinet at the regular, not custom cost.

You guys, on the other hand, I have learned a TON from!