I hope no-one is suggesting that if the A/P broke, I or anyone else would be unable to cope. We've all been in fairly extreme situations in the sim (certainly a lot worse than just the A/P and A/THR being off) and dealt with it fine.
josmison - i'm not bashing military pilots but as you mentioned it: It was an ex-tornado pilot who nearly wrote off a MYT A321 with a tailstrike, risking his and about 200 other lives, whilst practising his hand flying skills!! This illustrates my point exactly. Whether or not you admit it to yourself, by "taking it all out", you are increasing the chances of level bust, tailstrike (see above) and other undesirable events. Flying for me is about minimising this type of thing.
Whatsalizad - So you would advocate switching all the ADRs off too to simulate the birdstrike situation you describe?