Well, I mean, you chose an embarrassingly general statement to make? Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.
> which most programs are not
Programs? Or problems? Who says? It's not at all obvious to me that it's true. And even if it were true, "embarrassingly parallel" problems are nowhere close to uncommon.
> When you try to parallelize a structurally complicated algorithm, the biggest issue is contention.
With respect to performance, I agree.
> How come so few people are concerned with the answers to that question and which are true, but so many people are concerned with making performance claims?
The question is itself flawed. Technology isn't fixed. We "advance" and try to do more stuff. This is not me saying, "this explains everything." Or even that "more stuff" is a good thing. This is me saying, "there's more to it than your over-simplifications."