"Obviously, we do bonsai for our own pleasure. I wouldn't spend hundreds of hours a year to please someone else."
Oh, I don't think this is obvious at all. Be honest. Sure, you grow bonsai for yourself--mostly.
However, who doesn't like it when someone complements you on a tree you've made--usually the tree you hate the most
For those who grow bonsai "for themselves"--how many secretly want to enter a contest to see how their trees are compared to someone else's? How many times have you seen a tree online and though "gee, I can do better than THAT?" How many bonsai have you seen in person and thought where the artist "went wrong?"
C'mon. Be real. It's human to compare yourself and your abilities with others. Yeah, I recognize the difference of working towards your own goals and having goals set for you by others, but it's not obvious where one stops and the other begins, sometimes. If everyone didn't care what others thought about their trees, bonsai would be the lesser for it.
I use others' opinions for what they are --opinions. I am not a slave to them, neither do I ignore they can offer insight I do not have.