I guess most would agree with you, since I see so many folks rocking way wider ratios than they need, as if there's no cost to it.

But my preference has always been to sacrifice high and low gears I'll rarely if ever need for ones in the middle of the range I'll use all the time to get my cadence in the narrow band I prefer.

I'm not sure how much of this is down to being weak and lazy, and how much is down to my historically utilitarian use case, involving the extra drag of street clothes. Although these days I'm in Lycra, but I still prefer the close ratios...

Another reason to go as close as you dare, is that since you're far less likely to spend most of your time on one or two cogs, wear will be spread further across the cassette, increasing its life.

If triples were still a thing, we could have our cake and eat it too, but noo, suddenly everyone's hating on front derailers, when they've never worked better. If a Di2 triple was released, I'd buy it tomorrow, and hang the expense.