Don't worry about all these egotistical computer science bigots on HN telling you that you are inferior because you can't wax poetic about the work of the scientists in our field.
Understanding performance and result trade-offs of various sorting algorithms is sometimes useful. But usually not.
Understanding how the nagle algorithm works in TCP is sometimes useful. But usually not.
Understanding how the A* algorithm works is sometimes useful. But usually not.
Understanding how zlib works is sometimes useful. But usually not.
That is the beauty of our field. We can build larger and more complex systems because others have laid the foundation. Actively seek out and learn relevant existing algorithms and libraries when you need them.
All of this stuff may or may not be useful to know. However, it is largely irrelevant when it comes to getting shit done in most bits of software. Sometimes, ignorance is blissfully productive.
It is true that having understandings of all the above will possibly never be handy, but having a vague knowledge of them is very useful. There are a lot of times I have seen people make things much harder for themselves just because they didn't know something had already been invented.
Having a broad knowledge of the field can be the difference between knowing what to search for and not.
Take a simple example of hash-tables vs. tries. Being able to write a trie or a hash-table without looking it up is perhaps of dubious use. Knowing the relative strengths and weaknesses of each without looking it up is in your words "sometimes useful, but usually not." But when you run into problems with a hash, if you at least know that a trie exists, you can say "oh, let's look it up and see if it solves my problem"
Really there's nothing new here. Scientists have deep knowledge and engineers have broad knowledge. Move along.
Understanding performance and result trade-offs of various sorting algorithms is sometimes useful. But usually not.
Understanding how the nagle algorithm works in TCP is sometimes useful. But usually not.
Understanding how the A* algorithm works is sometimes useful. But usually not.
Understanding how zlib works is sometimes useful. But usually not.
That is the beauty of our field. We can build larger and more complex systems because others have laid the foundation. Actively seek out and learn relevant existing algorithms and libraries when you need them.
All of this stuff may or may not be useful to know. However, it is largely irrelevant when it comes to getting shit done in most bits of software. Sometimes, ignorance is blissfully productive.
What makes you happy? Screw the rest.