Cargo-cult programming

The original term "cargo cult" refers to aboriginal religious groups in the South Pacific after World War II. They were obsessed with building elaborate mock-ups of airplanes and military landing strips in the hope of summoning the god-like beings who arrived in airplanes that had brought marvelous cargo during the war.

Just like them, cargo-cult programmers are obsessed with using technologies or patterns they don't fully understand, in hopes that "Good things will come" (because someone else has reporedly used them successfully).

More reading:

• https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cargo_cult_programming