Yeah there's just a badge of honor to say that you don't know theory, as though it's something bad if you do, for some people, for some reason

I've seen it and I kind of get it. I have worked with folks who do things for theoretical reasons instead of describing what they do with these ideas.

At the same time, I wish more folks would learn to read music, or even be literate enough to read lead sheets- my life would be so much easier if folks could just show up and play the thing without spending hours learning from recordings and making whatever kind of esoteric notations they've made up.