It's not absolutely required to learn about optical artifacts. One can go through life quite happy without learning the many ways light can go wrong through a lens. But if one plans to interpret photography and make public statements based on those interpretations, then one does owe it to his audience to know what he's talking about.
People who see spots in photos and then talk about Area 51 and UFOs and how our government is lying to us ought to be taken to task for their irresponsibility.
As for the penchant at YouTube to post camera-phone videos shot from their TV screens and then purport to "expertly" analyze them -- well I can't say anything about the legitimacy of that without violating forum rules against decorum.
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