Yeah, there is value in knowing how to do things the long way.

I've never been briliantly great at math, but I did ok. I wanted to reply to your post with a similar subject where there is value in doing it the long way. I'm training to become a pilot and there are many parts of aviation where learning the long way is a great idea. Using the E6B flight computer is one. If we began our training by using the electronic E6B, we'd just plug in numbers and get an answer. But by learning how rate and time and such work together using a pen and paper, one learns it much easier. I'm forever grateful that my flight instructor made me do fuel equations and calculations in the air and made me figure out how much fuel was needed to get to a certain airport, etc without the help of an electronic calculator. It's the same with learning how to fly with analog instruments...it's very easy to use your knowledge of gyros and pressure indicators to apply to digital instruments, but it would be extremely hard going the other.

To sum up, it might not be fun to learn the hard way, but in the end, you won't die.