I used to agree with you, then I had to run to a meeting with a non closed laptop. Since my hinge was weak I was holding it like an open book, as to keep it open without closing anything important by touching the screen. The whole office stared at me like I am an alien.

(I know you can change the behavior, but back then I had it on default, which would hibernate on lid closure and never wake up, so I just made a habbit of shutting it down before closing the lid)