Earlier quoted context omitted.
Either turn off automatic updates or don't. You're overanalyzing this.
They're not "overanalyzing" it. Turning off automatic updates means you miss security updates. Point upgrades are automatic, full versions aren't. Apple is clearly going to backdoor this in a 15.1 or 15.2 release, which means you then can't get any security updates and your only option is to go back to a backup of your device from iOS 14.
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2021/09/psa-you-dont-have-to...