You are missing my point by a mile and twenty-five quarters.
No, I get what you are saying, and everybody is perfectly entitled to get what what they want out of the driving experience (provided it's within the confines of their countries laws of course)... for me, I enjoy the feedback from tyres, suspension and steering, particularly when hustling along in larger, heavier vehicles. In my years of owning and driving manuals and auto's that pleasure hasn't been diminished by the transmission type. Honestly the number of times I've wished I could bang it down a gear for better acceleration (which isn't that often given kickdown etc) is out-weighed by the number of times I've gotten sick of crawling along in roadworks going from neutral to 1st to 2nd and back again, and none of the clutches I've ever had have even been that heavy.
What I object to is the insinuation that people drive auto's because manual is too difficult.... shifting gear is easy, as I've said before, it's second nature by the time anyone even gets their license, it's not some mythical, spiritual ritual that only total petrol head enthusiasts understand, and anybody that doesn't is 'special needs'.
As I've also said before, the transmission is only a small part of the driving equation.. my E46 320d tourer is a dog to drive compared to my E36 328i Sport Coupe, even though it's a manual and the E36 is an Auto, the coupe is 10× more fun to drive in an enthusiastic manner. I also enjoy left-foot breaking in the auto, but I can't heel'n'toe for toffee in the manual... in fact I've alway struggled with that - I blame the floor hinged accelerator in BMW's.
Maybe it's just because in the UK the vast majority of people learn to drive manual, and automatic is usually only a secondary option, I just don't see selecting your own gears as that big of a deal...... and since I can still select my own gears if necessary in my Auto, I doubt my mind will ever change on that.