I'm not so sure about that. Maybe not =as= ignorant and helpless but you don't have to spend much time on an internet forum where students ask a lot of questions to see just how little they understand the process they are in.

Personally, I think that the difference is a difference in the FAA's view of instructors. The FAA trusts them when giving instruction - from lower medical certificate requirements to allowing even allows a CFI to take a student for his first night flight without being night-current. There's also probably less potential for profit-motive-based abuse in the instructional setting where payment is based on one student at a time than there is even in non-Part 135 commercial sightseeing tours.