I do not dose carbon or use GFO, I have only a skimmer and a fuge and on more than one occasion drove nutrients so low that coral died. I actually have to dose to keep nutrients up at an acceptable level. Many people share this experience.
You are making a very generalised statement here that many will disagree with. You speak as though traditional techniques were perfect yet on average the reefkeeper of today is far more successful than ever. This could be due to better quality lighting/skimmers/test equipment or any number of other factors.
I will not risk the health of my coral just because I may end up with more algae, I will get off my *** and begin pulling the algae out by hand if I have to.