Thanks for your reply. Yes, the modern matrix metering cameras will usually do a good job. 90% of the time, you can just use the matrix mode and trust the camera.
The light meter averages out the scene and most scenes fall into the average. However, if you want to absolutely ensure that a critical dark/bright subject turns out how you'd like, I would advise center or spot metering specifically on that subject to double check that the suggested values are in line with where you believe the subject should meter.
In challenging lighting situations where the overall scene is not averagely lit, this is where manually metering can save your photos. Sometimes you do need to take a photo of a dark subject in front of a dark background or of your new white Porsche in front of an aluminum (read highly reflective) modern building.
Once a beginner gets out there and learns through experience exactly when and in which situations the camera actually makes mistakes, then he/she will know to meter properly. He/she should ultimately be able to look upon a scene and think, "oh yeah, I can already tell the camera will overexpose the hell out of this shot. I should stop it down to compensate."
And thanks for YOURS! I totally agree. I have a more intuitive approach to photography, but maybe that is BECAUSE I know the basics inside out and don't have to worry about them anymore. Photography has changed a lot. You can take excellent images with nothing but your phone and without thinking twice about parameters of any kind. That makes it easier to concentrate on the moment itself, but as you have your camera with you all the time, there are so, so many moments to choose from. I have just installed my old darkroom again. Let's see where this is leading. Carrying the Mamiya around is like having an overweight pet dog in your purse... :-)