Why are orphan questions orphan?

If you take a look at orphan questions, you’d see that most of them were asked by newbies. Do you think there’s a correlation? As in, you see a technical question asked by someone new, and you’re less inclined to make an effort to help? Or is it simply that some questions are too specific (and that the people looking for answers are trying all the Q&A sites they can find)? What do y’all think?