Depends what ones final display is with their images. Mine is prints and books. If someone just displays their images on screens, do we really need all those megapixels?
There are many types of photographers with different needs...
I think you are right that the focus is a bit too much on the amount of pixels...still in my work i need them. (
www.beeld.nu/beeld)
If you print for books usually an A3-300px/inch will be perfect; meaning a 24MP camera with a good lens is more than sufficient and leaves even room for cropping.
I also tend to look and judge my photos 100% on screen, but you are right that it often is not important.
Images from mobile phones look lousy at 100% but in print they look better than expected. (about 25%)
That said - screen is already the most popular way of seeing photographs, but then especially on a phone and laptop, so often a low quality will do.
However in the near future 8K screens will be the new norm, not only for new, but also for the earlier made photographs.
Then we talk about 40-50MP .