Even in an automatic can't you throw it into neutral? Maybe not in newer cars but I'm pretty sure in most 90's autos there wasn't a gate stopping you from going from D to N.

I think the heart of this statement is not against remembering copious facts but that you shouldn't waste time committing details to memory when the you really should be remembering the bigger picture and how things relate.

I have a unlimited Verizon plan and while I definitely struggle to reach 2GB of data in a month it's nice to have it. There's a pretty large market for buying phones second hand so couldn't people just not buy brand new phones from Verizon and instead just change to a newer used phone?