Furthermore, yes, that is what I'm saying. Would you rather not use it and have no idea when Chrome extensions update? You can't disable auto-updates. So if you want to go that route be my guest.
Browsing without extensions is fine if you're okay with being tracked and bombarded with advertisements ad nauseam.
I could cope with using few extensions — and I do try to use as few as possible — but I would not enjoy using none.
And this is assuming you only use your browser for general web surfing; there are a plethora of other extensions I use that really simplify my browsing experience, but that I wouldn't consider crucial. I similarly can't live without RedditEnhancementSuite for reddit, for example. There's just so much that extensions have to offer.