I get where you're coming from, but I think it's indicative of exactly what I don't like about Microsoft's attitude, and part of why I don't use their software.
At the end of the day, it's my computer. Not theirs.
Regardless of how much it's "For my own good", that's not their decision to make.
It's my hardware, that I'm paying for.
Ultimately, I need to have the final decision on what it does.
I understand and agree with this perspective. I should be able to decide what my device does. (And I can do pretty much equally with Windows/macOS, and more so with Linux.)
But I don't know that, “I own this computer and therefore understand what user defaults will make it most stable and usable for me” scales beyond the informed user to general users, if that's what you were suggesting.
“For your own good” preferences exist to try to make the default experience better for users who don't care enough to understand the tool they're using 10 hours a day. Is choosing defaults that seek to benefit most users really not a decision that software developers should be making?
At the end of the day, it's my computer. Not theirs.
Regardless of how much it's "For my own good", that's not their decision to make.
It's my hardware, that I'm paying for. Ultimately, I need to have the final decision on what it does.