Good post RiverMonkey.

Just to add my thoughts, poker to me is primarily a game of information. The player with the skills to gather the most information, evaluate it correctly, and make the correct decisions based on that information will be a true poker master. This information generally falls into 3 categories:
1. Statistical knowledge of the game.
2. Knowledge of your opponents' playing styles/Knowledge of the table's playing style.
3. Knowledge of the action that has happened before you in the betting round and the hand at large.

#1 can be learned expertly by almost anyone who takes the time and effort.
#2 is more difficult on the single player level but relatively easy at the table level ... it can give you huge edges if you own a player, but owning a player takes very keen observational skills (and a vast amount of hands against them to draw conclusions from)
#3 takes learning what certain actions mean in general, but other than that is wholly dependent on position and relative position.

You must have a basic statistical understanding to do well in poker. You must also know how to change your play for the table you are at to do well in poker. Reading individual players can give you a big boost in your profit margin, but is not critical to be a very good poker player, especially online. The last thing, learning how to take the information of position and use it correctly, I think is just as vital as a basic understanding of the math and the table dynamic. The information you gain from position is huge. For example, ATo is a marginal hand to even call with UTG. But from the CO or Button, with noone entering the pot, is a clear raise in any form of Hold'em. Why is this? Because when you are UTG, you don't know if anyone else out there has AJ or better or pocket Ts or better and has you dominated (and there is a pretty good chance of this). Once you are CO, and only 3 more to act, the chances you have the best hand preflop are much higher because you have the information that 6 people have already folded.

If you have a problem understanding why position is so important, I would say to take some time each hand and ask yourself what your opponents' actions have told you. You must learn to make better decisions from this information. And the reason position will help you, especially preflop, is that you know the action of so many opponents before you have to make your decision.