How is blindly telling a would be boater to get a larger boat,

I wouldn't begin to know.

What I said was:

Get a boat that suits your needs and, at the very beginning, learn to
operate
it properly. That may even involve hiring somebody to teach you, one on
one.

Several of the folks screeching that you *must* start small and work up have
cited "safety" as an issue.

Maybe it's different in my state, but boating deaths go up exponentially the
further one gets down below 20 feet LOA.

I'm personally aware of scores of first-time boaters who had very successful
experiences with boats as large as a 63-foot Hatteras. In every case, the
people got some extensive one-on-one training.

We can agree that it is complete idiocy to be out and about on a boat you are
not prepared to handle. We apparently disagree that it is possible for that
*first* boat to something other than a tiny little runabout.