Agree with Step. And I'd take it a tad further. The PPL, by necessity, teaches you to 'fly by numbers and rote'. Given the complexity of learning to fly, that's the only way it can be done with a neophyte stude.
An example is the use of 'stall speed' to prevent the stude from flying too slowly. When we 'grow up' aeronautically speaking, we learn that there is no such thing as stall speed, only stall angle (of attack).
If we progress to aerobatics we soon learn that there is often little relationship between the stall and the ASI indication.
Circuit planning consists of stuff like "at this point on base leg reduce power to xxx, extend x degrees of flap, and trim for x knots". Hmmm. Try that when flying into a tight, sloping, farm strip with the weaving approach flown between trees and buildings.
When we get more experienced all that 'do it by rote' stuff is, rightly, ditched and we fly the aeroplane to make it do what we want. Eventually with the right sort of aeroplane and sufficient experience the aeroplane becomes an extension of the pilot, and he doesn't need to consciously think about the mechanics of operating the controls.
I know I was a very long way from that when I completed my PPL many decades ago.