Pace - as you so rightly highlight, and indeed one of the reasons I was unhappy with some of the earlier posts, it doesnt matter if you think you are a Sky God or even perhaps have the credentials to actually be one, it seems to me even Gods dance on heads of pins when it comes to aviation. If you read the accident reports it is quite extraordinary how many very experienced pilots still make mistakes.
So it doesnt matter why people set off in conditions they shouldnt, and it doesnt matter whether they did because of the chute, in fact none of it really matters because people will always do incredibly stupid things regardless of how much experience they have, and on other occasions it might just not be their lucky day. I guess that is why I find this debate so frustrating. The chutes there for those occasions and better it be there for that, than not, just because there might be the odd person who would never have got themselves into the situation had they not believed the chute would get them out of it.
I still think you will find very very few people look at the weather for example and think to themselves no problem I will pull the chute if I have to. If that is happening it is much more subtle, and much more a case of their believing the Cirrus as a package is more capable than it really is. I just think for any pilot the thought of pulling the chute is actually quite a big deal. In fact there are now sadly quite a number of cases where had the chute been pulled the outcome would almost certainly have been different. That doesnt add up to a willingness to rely on the chute.
Of the cases in which the chute was pulled how many really add to a pilot departing in conditions outside their ability in a way that could have been predicted before they departed? Chute aside statistically how many pilots would still have departed in the same conditions? You really would need some better evidence to pursue your line of argument any further.