While I am no expert, at the end of the day really good cooking is about techniques. If you learn the basics about one technique you can build on it and add to your list. There is a lot to be said for just jumping in and trying things.
It’s also easy for some to get stupidly “snobby” about cooking. For example I could simply say I carmelized onlions or I could BS about it and talk about my mize en place, fantastic knife skills needed to slice or dice an onion, how to properly deglaze the pan and the importance of the right amount of material in the pan, etc. If you are cooking for some high end restaurant then, yes, you must have really high end skills. However, for the rest of us having good foundational skills is enough.