Will,
It sounds as if you are comparing Merle Travis' style with Libba Cottens' style (via Peggy Seeger). I bow to your superior abilities on the guitar and technical knowledge but the way we were taught used more than just the forefinger of the right hand. I find myself using three.
Whilst on the subject. Does nobody else but me ever play Cotten's "Wilson Rag"? I remember Malcolm Price and Lisa Turner used to play it in the sixties but I haven't heard it played by anyone else except in the privacy of my own home, for years.

Hoot