Yeah, I know how easy it is. I do a substantial amount of legal research on the computer (for personal reasons, I'm not a practicing legal professional, I'm just a Pro se type by nature). I sometimes end up reading hundreds of pages from dozens and dozens of assorted published cases in order to know the current meaning of a single ruling or phrase in the law. There just isn't enough time for almost anyone to understand the whole tax code, particularly when it doesn't always seem to mean the same thing in different cases.
Definitions, even the wording of the laws, by themselves, are almost meaningless in practice. They're just a place to start research. It's the court rulings that will determine what the laws actually mean in practice, because that is what will (usually) get you exhonerated or convicted. Appropriate use of the various decisions about your particular situation (your argument before the court about the meaning and application of the law) can result in a new decision that will be new law to use in future cases . Most people (myself included), even if they have the time and knowlege to understand the law, don't have the legal, argumentive and oratorical skills to argue before a court and obtain a new ruling on a point of law (actually, very few practicing attornmeys do, particularly at the appellate level).
Our parents didn't have the access to information that we have and that's part of the reason we believe things that are not true.
Our parents had access to the law libraries, the same as you or I do today.
The only difference a computer makes is the convenience and speed of research. Actually going down to the local law library is still needed as you may have no luck in finding the latest law and rulings (i.e. slip laws, pocket parts) unless you subscribe to one of the professional legal research databases (expensive).