Ask HN: Understanding expectations of introductions

I find myself often being offered 'introductions' to people who have similar industry interests to me. Unfortunately, only after the introductions have occurred do I fully understand the motivation of the parties involved. From step one, it is assumed that my primary goal is new or different employment. Although this can be a topic on the table, I often would rather talk to someone to better understand their interests and problem space without muddying the waters with intents like 'employment' or 'opportunities'.

These assumptions tend to put me in the position of prematurely offending someone or require me culling my speech at risk of missing out discussion of a neat topic or possible future work connections.

Is this a common problem for developers? (curious if I'm feeling this only because my sample size is relatively small)

How do you gracefully handle industry introductions that stray dramatically from your expectations?