I knew just fine how to search for something and copypaste from Stackoverflow; I just didn't even realize that the solution that I immediately thought of was sub-optimal.

Sure, that example maybe shouldn't necessitate a $50k degree, but my point was more that the theory inherently informs the practice. Taking a theoretic discrete math class does make your software better, even if it doesn't immediately seem relevant because all the job postings are asking for 10+ years of React experience or something.