Josepp: "But he wasn't teaching music theory to people, either, was he?"

I've said it above, and I'll say it again: You've actually MORPHED your argument. You're now saying that sight-reading ability is only *critical* in the case of people who are going to teach music. However, your initial point above was:

Josepp: When I watch musicians that I respect play, they can all play straight off sheet music. That is how it should be. Anything less damages our culture.

Following which you stated that one of the best guitarists you'd ever played with couldn't read a note. So presumably, although he was one of the best guitarists you've ever played with, you were unable to respect him and felt that his mere exitence was damaging our culture?

Sorry to keep harping on at this, but it seems that you changed your tune significantly on this part-way through the thread, and I think you should clarify whether the above statement applies (as it seemed to originally) to *all* musicians or just to those who terach others?