or am I being simplistic?
Your more being personal to yourself.
Its this age old thing of if your an arty type or a Science engineery type.
As much as people would like to think otherwise our grey matter is wired differently. What seems glaringly obvious to some is white mans magic to others. If we were all the same we would only need half the regulation that we have today. And it doesn't matter how you regulate there is a group of people who will find a work around just because they can.
It all comes down to if your risk assessment is driven by science or by feeling.
The only time you will get the true safety advantage of the chute showing through is when all the pilots plan and operate as if it isn't in the back.
Personally I am quite interested in the results of everyone in Europe having to have the yearly IR test and if this produces a noticeable effect in lose of control incidents EU v US.