The same thing is true for cars today. It's amazing how little people who work in the industry know about the basics of mechanics. I talk to a lot of car guys and we all laugh about how easy it is to confuse the kid at the counter at Auto Zone. Even those who are supposed to be SAE trained mechanics have no idea today what a carburetor is. Mostly what they know to do is plug in a diagnostic port and let the computer tell them what is wrong. People have lost the skill of diagnosing a problem themselves.

I bet hardly any mechanic today knows the first thing about hydraulics or Pascal's law. They just know that if you cut open a brake line you have to bleed the air out, but I bet they can't tell you why.

When I was in high school chemistry class we had a chapter on four stroke engines. We had to learn each of the four strokes and what they did. I remember some in the class thought it was stupid. Our teacher explained that the internal combustion engine was one of the most important inventions in history and that it was one of the most common machines on the face of the planet and that we needed know the basics of it so that we wouldn't be taken advantage of by others when we got a car fixed. I bet few schools bother to teach that now. All students learn is that engines are bad and must be eliminated as quickly as possible.