How do you know it's not a placebo effect, though?
Test it against people with fake brains.
Marxism is a religion? If that is the case then Capitalism is a religion.
OK, I see your point.
With the exception of BGA a decent soldering iron is fine for SMD. I can solder a 144 pin 0.5mm QFP quicker than I can solder a through hole 40 pin DIP component.
I would love to see you fix a board with a bad QFP with only a soldering iron. A hot-air rework station is a far more appropriate tool for removing said QFP if it is in need of replacement. We are talking about fixing broken electronics after all.
And they're terrible with cave drawings.
We call it "graffiti" these days. And, yes, I agree it is terrible.
In any formula, constants (especially those obtained from handbooks) are to be treated as variables.