Having read that thread, I think there is a distinction being made there between "the rules" and "the game."
What I mean by this is that their understanding of "a player who never learns the rules" seems not to exclude players who devote effort to "learning" the setting, the conventions of RPGs, the optimal methods of PC/NPC interaction and things like that.
From my perspective those things are part and parcel of "the rules" but there seems to be an idea on that thread that "the rules" are inherently mechanical, anti immersive, and bad, thus anything that promotes immersion cannot possibly be rules related.
It reminds me of the "get your government hands off my medicare" meme in that rules and people who like rules have been demonized to the point where it is inconceivable that they might be a positive or necessary force.
