My typical response to the "I'll never need to know X" argument is similar, which is that having as broad and diverse understanding of a system as possible give

My typical response to the "I'll never need to know X" argument is similar, which is that having as broad and diverse understanding of a system as possible gives you imagination. Without imagination, you will not be able to solve certain problems, not know where to even look when some arise, and at worse be totally unaware that better solutions exist. That said, the OP's context is that of an "interview style" question which raises mental red flags for me. It's a common problem for interviewers to base their assessment of a candidate based on whether or not the interviewee has the same subset of knowledge that they do. In that case, I'd be quick to point out that: * knowledge != intelligence * knowledge != capability * knowledge != skills * correlation != causation