Right, if you are to learn to use a tool in novel ways you need to understand its behavior at a basic level: it is better to experiment with it from the outside

Right, if you are to learn to use a tool in novel ways you need to understand its behavior at a basic level: it is better to experiment with it from the outside until you understand its "Tao". On the other hand if you need to achieve a task whose outcome you won't rely on to reach other ends, like say buying airline tickets (ha), its probably better if you can offload the thinking to some other entity.