"many programmers consistently overestimate the utility of understanding something as opposed to merely shipping it and moving on" I agree and want to add that

"many programmers consistently overestimate the utility of understanding something as opposed to merely shipping it and moving on" I agree and want to add that it's not just overestimating the utility of something that is a problem but underestimating the quality of something because you did not write it. Of course that can really be true sometimes but more often not. You need to investigate and make the decision process more fact driven. I do disagree with that statement in the case that you're just plain interested in something: no reason not to satisfy your curiosity if you have the time. You will probably learn something even if it is not the most practical thing in terms of the here and now of your project. The latter is what I thought we're discussing here though, the actual practical things to do under time pressure.