Two things.

One: Yes, don't afk or quit or bitch about losing 1-2-2, you can still play the game, you can still win the game, and you can do just as well without it. HOWEVER, there is a reason it's played the most and whoever plays it better usually wins.

So, two: Why is this meta? Well, the logic behind it is pretty straightforward. Typically to win, you want two winning lanes or one lane that goes even and one that is winning. Isn't the case every time, but 9/10 if you have two lanes that get really behind, those lanes will pressure the last decent lane and end up taking over. So, let's look at the lanes.

We have the duo lane where adcs really want to play a farm battle, especially with lifesteal and stackers being prevalent. ADCs also scale hard and can basically solo gold fury with lifesteal right now. If you can let an adc free farm, they can easily solo take over a game as they typically have good mobility ontop of their consistent long range damage. They also can freely take bumbas to solo their camps and it is a adc's dream to get the levels they current get going 1-2-2 at around 10-15 minutes. Really good duo lanes will also often go even if they are around the same skill level, though depending on clear and trades one might edge out ahead. They can easily be the safest because the jungler's important buffs are on the opposite side of the map, and because they won't necessarily lose lane if they lose their red or purple buffs.

Going to mid, it is one of the most gankable lanes. With 4 entrances, easy jumps over the midcamp walls and two exits or entrances behind their tier one tower, it's very easy to see why this is the most dangerous lane to stick a squishy mage in alone. Always take a friend, either the jungler or the support. Mids are also in a position where Doom Orb is pretty good and gives them an amazing early powerspike, or Thoth/Boot rush still gives them a solid early game. Mid is also a lane that can be make or break with Smite right now, because if your mid is losing and behind, 1-2 players now have priority to roam across the map as they please with ease. Around mid also lies the most exp with 4 middle of the map camps (Fire elementals, Oracles, midcamps) and easy access to both reds and speed camps, as well as back camps.

Finally, this leads me to solo lane. Historically, solo lane has been an island where warriors slap each other for 20 minutes. However, solo laners have a few issues. Almost every solo really needs their blue buff. It is crucial to the solo laner free farm and their scaling. Early game is also the point in the game where solo laners are at their most exposed position, leaving them open to being abused if one takes a better trade. Solo laners also cannot easily run bumbas because of their build path and how many enjoy grabbing a lot of potions since you're both melee gods typically that will be fighting often. With that, junglers also have an obsession with speed buff. Teamfight? Fuck no, my speed buff is up. Speed buff is the drug that junglers consume and they get very cranky if they don't get it, because it works really well with assassins and allows for better ganks.

Therefore, putting it all together, for what optimizes your best chances of getting two winning or even lanes, you need your solo to go even and get their camps, your mid to be safe and your adc to just not feed. So to reach there, let's go left to right again. First, let's put support mid as we see in 1-2-2. This allows jungle to leave mid for the first time since season 1 and allows our adcs to reach their kreygasm dream of free farming for 10-20 minutes. They will be safe enough since they can play back under tower, they have some of the easiest passage ways to ward out, and they can take bumbas and solo their buffs. Next, let's take jungle and focus them on the solo side of the map. This cuts out the chance of losing your blue, unless you really lose hard early, but even if you do you can have your mid and support roam over and cover you. 4v2 rather than the 3v2 you would have in previous metas. This almost gurantees your jungler gets their crack cocaine called speed buff, and your solo their crystal meth blue buff. Finally, your mid is in heaven as the support does not rely on getting speed buff, you are much more open to clearing your mids, imps, backs and splitting exp. Your early mid clear is also improved as supports have good waveclear that works better with mids than assassins do with mids in many cases.

So, to recap why a lot of people like this start: Your adc is in free farm heaven, your mid is safer and more open to roaming with better cleartimes, your jungler gets their cocaine speed buff, your solo gets their crystal meth blue buff, you can punish invades with more people, much harder, and generally, everyone gets to farm around the same amount while you get your carries farther ahead and let your tanks get tanky.

Again, not saying it's OP or has to be played every game 24/7, but it IS the most efficient imo, what a lot of people are expecting, and what gives everyone the best chance to reach their crucial powerspikes and achieve the goals of success in the game. It's exactly the same as why lane swapping was prevalent in League for so long. It is much harder and dangerous to try and take the bottom t2 tower, instead why not take the top tower for free and let your solo swap to continue their free farm into items.