That misses the point - the comparison to combat was about using the appropriate tools to get the job done. In that regard, it is a pertinent comparison.
People have different reasons for doing it in the first place. Yours is to spot something without computational aids. That's your prerogative. However, with a great many secondary and tertiary stars so far out from the primary that you jump into, the chances of finding planets is actually relatively small. The game helps a great deal already with supercruise and the parallax effects that induces, and one could then argue that you're using a crutch and should stop SCing, hang out in normal space with the engines off and used your eye and thumb (an astrolabe would be another artificial aid). The desire to say "I found it myself unaided" itself introduces an artificial constraint that others might not see the point of. I certainly don't.
I bought an ADS and went off on a trip to LBN 623 for my first foray - a 1300LY round trip. I enjoyed it immensely and intend to do another one to the Scutum-Crux arm via the Eta-Carina nebula once I've saved enough for an Asp. I'm not going to do it in that ship, however. Repair bills can be quite high with it, I'm given to understand. I'll probably refit my Cobra for >23LY jumps. As for why I did it in the first place, well, I wanted to see what it was like. I also wanted the trip to pay for itself.
The comparison might be going exploring without a fuel scoop... I also never mentioned unaided.
