[pessimizer]

All "cargo cult" means is that you're doing something associated with an outcome that you want, rather than understanding the mechanism by which what you're doing would lead to the desired outcome.

A common example: towns that have a lot of tourists have a lot of parking. Therefore if we tear down buildings to make more parking lots, we'll increase tourism!

I'm pretty sure that what 99.9% of developers (including me) are doing with SSL is cargo cult.