The histogram debate

For the past few days David duChemin has had some very interesting thoughts on this whole "should I worry about the histogram at all, somewhat, or is it the holly grail of photography . I'm still trying to make up my mind but he offers some compelling reasons for understanding the histogram but not relying on it to make wonderful images. He's suggesting to shoot in AV mode and use the exposure compensation dial to move the histogram as for to the right (highlights) as you can without bumping it against the edge. Here's the link. http://www.pixelatedimage.com/blog/. He explains it much better than I. In Scott Kelby's "The Digital Photography Book" Volume #3 he writes that he doesn't use the histogram at all but instead uses the cameras highlight warning ( blinkies), then use exposure compensation to darken the image and bring back the highlight detail. My suggestion would be to read all you can about the subject, experiment and make your own decisions. That's what I'm doing.