When Cora talks about her biotics and people say they look at the camera like they're on The Office, I get it. I get it because it is really Office-like. It does not make sense. But this isn’t a Cora problem. It's a "protagonist is (this) or (that) but the game & companions won't act accordingly" problem. It's not even a specific Mass Effect problem. In Dragon Age Inquisition, you can play an elf who asks a human character who an elven god is. As an elf, it’s something you should already know. It's just wtf on many levels, but that's not something you can blame characters for. It's a writing issue. It's when writers believe information should be shared, even if it is at the expanse of character development and common sense. So when Cora makes comments about being a biotic and it looks like she's ignoring the fact that Ryder themselves is a biotic, it's hardly Cora's fault.
They've always had difficulties with their biotic!protag, even in the trilogy. We don't know how Shepard discovered they were a biotic, how they reacted, how they managed to control it. We're left with a lot of headcanoning to do and a messy timeline to deal with to see if it all makes sense.
And with Cora, I don't think for a second she thinks people who aren't biotics are beneath her. Self-doubt is a big part of her personality. She also doesn't show contempt for people who have different skills than her. She appreciates competency no matter the form it takes. And when she mentions that biotics aren't contagious and not to worry, it's linked to her (at least developed) past as a very poor teenager who lived in a very small ship and constantly feared that unleashing her biotic powers would kill everyone. It's canon the Alliance didn't know what to do what her biotics. They sent her to be trained by asari. She spent so much time with them that for four years she forgot what it's like to be around humans. Humans who have their own prejudices against biotics. So it's bound to make Cora want to reassure people. She does not want to appear as a threat. We see in the MEA book it's not an irrational fear. When she is about to use her biotics or when she uses it subconsciously, a lot of people look at her nervously because she could kill them in a second. Ryder could do the same and experience the same trouble with their biotics and sense of self, only the writers don't show it. Again: that’s a writing issue.
