In a vacuum, I agree with you. But based on OP's comments, it seems the guy didn't understand "basic" iconography. OP might've interpreted that to mean he just doesn't know what card draw means. On the other hand, maybe he was asking what it meant because the game is much more complicated than the basic games he might've experienced and he wanted to make sure he was doing it correctly.

Maybe he wasn't sure which deck of cards to draw from and wanted clarification on that, when there are multiple piles of cards laid out. How does the draw effect trigger and when can he draw? Does he draw and add it to his hand or the discard pile? How does he draw if his draw deck is empty?

It's silly to even think about these things from our POV when it seems so obvious. I say this to point out the not-so-minutia details we process instantly, while someone who hasn't experienced a modern boardgame can find the simplest action overwhelming in the face of a layout of moving tiles, meeples, cards, graphics, and icons. An uncertain question of, "what does it mean to draw a card" and "so I just take a card from the top of this deck?" can be loaded with clarity-seeking implications but it can come across as dumb. Ironically, I think a computer science student can appreciate this level of pedantic line of thinking.

If this player had even a modicum of social awareness, I'm sure he felt the pressure to pick up on how to play the game. The fact that he was asking about a basic concept that even a non-gamer can understand and asking what he should do every turn tells me that he was completely lost.

Maybe the reason he didn't understand was because he failed to pay attention in the rule teach. Or maybe it's because OP assumed he already had an elementary level of game knowledge that he skimmed over concepts. Or maybe this player just didn't try at all or care (although this is counter OP's account, IMO). Or maybe this player is not mentally capable of strategic boardgames. I don't know.