[AndrewNCarr]

My observation of HN is that any link title mentioning cargo cult or skeuomorphism is upvoted into orbit.

It is worth reading the wikipedia article on the subject: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cargo_cult

I've always thought the idea was linked to the concept of the Outside Context Problem, as a temporary case (the US service personnel eventually left, giving rise to the cult). Iain Banks purportedly coined this term and uses this as the basis of his novel Excession: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outside_Context_Problem#Outsid...

Amusingly, Banks also had a ship named Cargo Cult in another Culture novel (The Player of Games).