Sacrificing Knight/Bishop for 2 Center Pawns

I've always been intrigued by this idea, that is, making a poor trade for a better board state. A good example of this is the following photo:

I decided to make the arrowed move with my knight, but the computer marked this as a blunder. Clearly, I knew this was a sacrifice since the knight would have no defender, but I knew as a result I would get the pawn on b4 and c4 while gaining an absurd amount of center control. Is this ever a good idea?

The C pawn isn't a center pawn, it's a flank pawn. B isn't a center pawn either, in fact it isn't even considered to be a flank pawn. And no, after the trades, you don't get an absurd amount of center control, you probably have the same amount, both sides having 1 pawn in the center.

The first thing I notice is you'll be left with your bad f6 bishop.

A common mistake for lower rated players is they rush trade off their good pieces instead of trying to improve their bad ones... and even if your bad pieces can't be improved, it just means that you have to avoid trades for a while.

Wanted to say thanks for your genuine feedback, I've been using your advice ever since

Thanks, glad you found it useful