It's a problem...and it's not. I don't know all the mechanisms and systems that get those bananas into my grocery store...and I don't care. Yeah, I know...until the bananas aren't there. But is that to suggest that I need to intimately know all the nuances of every system that provides tangible and intangible goods to me against the day when they don't work? Of course not.

That said, you're right...the folks WITHIN those systems need to know how and why all the algorithms work the way they do. That ship captain will be more capable and effective to the extent that he knows how those emails work that tell him when to slow down. That material handler will be more effective if she knows how the mechanism that tells her where to pick goods from works.