No, pro's are not stupid they are just pro and must have a lot of "tools" to finsih the job. After 20y in pro recording, after more than 60 commercial CD's and more than 60 hit songs I realized that there is no rule of using tools. I recorded and produced people who can sound terrible on U47 but shure 57 or cheapo ch mic was the real one. Same with compressor , preamp, reverb and summing... Some music sounds boring in the box but sometimes Cubase do the job. There is the point you have to use your ears and to be intuitive.Yeah, it's funny how some people think. It's almost as though their thought process is "gee, these professional sound engineers gotta be rich and stupid for spending 7k on a U47 when they can get the clone for $1,500" haha.
I'm a big fan of measuring but better measures don't make "better" sound or a hit tune. There is no "golden algorithm" or automatic curve what can make proper mix or mastering. So, it's up to you to choose way to go and test the results in the real world. You don't have to talk with pro people and proove what's better. Just run your song to the public , make a hit and then post your gear list on Gearslutz to make one more "golden setup" for young and horny generations.
Cheers
P.S. I wanted to stay silent but some "dark force" forced me to write this ;D