Some people like that sort of thing. Mostly the "academic" types. The memorizers. There are people who got through their higher education by using memory instead of wit. I know some of those people, I went to school with some of them, they were always studying and ramming as much "data" into their brains as possible... while I was getting through with minimum of effort by just coding a lot and trying to think about things in my own way.

The memorizers in this industry often get jobs higher up the tree and therefore they are highly represented in the hiring practices.

Anyways, I completely agree with you. In my opinion it is essential to KNOW that you DON'T KNOW (i.e. you don't remember how exactly an RB tree works, you just know there is such a thing). Everything else is just a quick Google session away.