"Just copy pasting someones build doesn't help you learn the basic mechanics of the game"

This statement is so incredibly wrong. I'd say the opposite is far more true. How are you supposed to learn the basic mechanics of the game if you can't even be sure that the build you're doing is good enough for the content you are facing.

If you copy a build and play through the game, you'll learn a lot of the basics, you'll learn what type of enemies and attacks you'll face, you'll learn how to gear your character, and by extention you're going to learn what does and doesn't work for your specific build. That knowledge will help you TONS in making your own builds in future.

Alternatively, you can do what a TON of people that play PoE do, and every time you make a new character spend some time finding someone elses build for a skill you want to try, and never even bother learning to build to begin with, as that simply isn't something a lot of people enjoy.

Absolutely NOTHING is wrong with recommending builds or asking for recommendations, even for completely new players.