I disagree with point 1. For me one of the best parts of programming is creating something from nothing. Going from an empty file to working program is part of that.
Empty file yes. But do you start with an empty/blank project?
Usually, yes. Especially when I'm learning a new technology, I won't even write a Makefile until I get lazy. I've never been entirely comfortable with those project boilerplate generators; another factor in starting from scratch is that I want to understand what all the pieces do and what happens when they're missing.