I can understand that those people who "play and sing folksongs and tunes without near as much (or any) consideration as to where the song came from, who sang it/played it (or didn't) in the past" won't be very interested in the tradition, or in the traditional processes which shaped the songs. Personally, I think they're missing out on a lot of fascinating stuff, but that's up to them.

What I find harder to understand is the apparent hostility towards the very idea of a tradition, even a denial that it existed.