Be Aware of the Makefile Effect

The best term for this is Cargo Cult Development. Cargo Cults arose in the Pacific during World War II, where native islanders would see miraculous planes bringing food, alcohol and goods to the islands and then vanishing into the blue. The islanders copied what they saw the soldiers doing, praying that their bamboo planes and coconut gadgets would impress the gods and restart the flow of cargo to the area.

The issue of course is the islanders did not understand the science behind planes, Wallis talkies, guns, etc.

Likewise, cargo cult devs see what is possible, but do not understand first principles, so they mimic what they see their high priests of technology doing, hoping they can copy their success.

Hence the practice of copying, pasting, trying, fiddling, googling, tugging, pulling and tweaking hoping that this time it will be just right enough to kind of work. Badly, and only with certain data on a Tuesday evening.

I think I fall very much into the "beginner of beginner stages" of understanding programming. It sounds like then, if I want to avoid that "cargo cult" mindset, then a structured flow of:

education -> learning -> doing -> failing -> (repeat)

Would be needed then, right?

Does this then mean that, if someone truly wants to "escape the island, and fly the plane" as it were, it comes down to "university is the 'truest' way"?

Note: Yes, I realize it's hard to speak in absolutes, that there are plenty of exceptions to generalities, and that all people have various degrees of justifications of I-can't-do-that-itus; I'm talking more in terms of optimal theory. That, the optimal route to avoid cult-like behavior is to understand the whole thing, and that "the whole thing" comes from higher education, right?

Logically at least, it would seem that even diligent studying with books as a means to meet/surpass the "completeness" of university would still be... inadequate in some regard when compared to in-class time with learned educators. (Again, supposing that the same person worked just as hard doing either option, etc.)