I am not sure I agree… see eg the cameras suggested in this recent topic 
Carrying a camera just signals interest in photography, just a hobby like many other hobbies.
Compared to a 25 Mp sensor (recent Panasonics), you can crop 26% more on a 40 Mp (\sqrt{40/25}), and 56% more on 61 Mp. (Of course compared to the 20Mp OM sensors, add approximately 12%.) Not insignificant, sure, but I am surprised Emily gets so excited about this in her Hasselblad video.
You are of course right when it comes to pulling shadows, larger sensors can just do so much more.