If you don't know how anything works, all you can do is follow, and cannot separate misinformation from truth. It's funny you mention engines because it's widely known that auto mechanics will take advantage of the general public's ignorance of how their cars work in order to profit. The same goes for several other industries. Sometimes the corporations actively try to prevent their consumers from knowing too much. Maybe you're fine with that. Others aren't.

Computers have permeated almost every aspect of our lives. It makes great sense and empowerment to actually know how they work.

As the saying goes, "knowledge is power".