1. Lots of people agree that a pad is unnecessary. NBD, whatever you like. I do think you'd be hard pressed to find people who routinely ride 3+ hours or more at a time who would agree, though.
2. The premise of this question is flawed. The vast majority of saddles are absolutely padded. The amount of padding in a pair of bike shorts is extremely thin and comparable to or less than the amount of padding in a typical road saddle. Also note that there's a wide variety of chamois/pads in shorts, some of which are extremely minimal.
3. The OP seems to misunderstand the purpose of a pad in a pair of bike shorts. The pad isn't there for shock prevention, it's there to conform to your body and prevent chafing.
4. You really don't need chamois cream for the vast majority of riding. This is a personal preference thing. Personally, I never use it even on very long rides in hot weather.
5. In my ~25+ years of riding, I've come to understand that for me thickly padded saddles are extremely uncomfortable on a road bike for rides longer than about 45 minutes. You sink in and put tons of pressure on some fairly delicate tissues. I think the majority of experienced cyclists would agree with me: you want a bit of padding in a saddle but not a lot.

Also, the OP is highly sensitive here about some extremely mild poking. The OP has asked a newbie question to a bunch of people who generally have a lot of experience. It's a forum, take your lumps with good humor.