That has nothing to do with producing a good design, fast - which is the #1 qualification I'm looking for in a designer at a startup.
I mean - take Mint, which has been widely praised for its design. Would a designer have been able to produce it by cobbling together half-understood components from other sites?
I'd really like to hear more about why you don't think a designer needs to be able to understand what design is. I'm curious about how you think he'd even be able to successfully emulate other sites if he doesn't understand what to emulate and why.
I just don't think studying these concepts makes you better. Designing makes you better. Practice and good feedback. To me, UI and UX can read like buzzwords on a resume. I'm not saying they're not important components. I'm just disagreeing with how one should learn them. Perhaps I could have been more clear in my original comment.