You stated:

"I kinda wonder how one can ride hundreds of thousands of miles and not be crippled?"

Everyone is a beginner rider at some point in their life, and if they continue to ride and challenge themselves....they will get to be better riders.  After spending my elementary school years riding bicycles in a a very aggressive manner, I started my junior high years on dirt bikes, and learned to ride in the dirt where a crash is more forgiving than asphalt of concrete.  I would imagine that I have had hundreds of tumbles in the dirt, and with each fall I would learn something new.  Riding in the dirt is a great way to build experience, and thankfully dirt bikes are very durable and the protective gear effective.....as I am still in one piece.  Once I was 16 I started racing motocross, hare scrambles and a few hillclimbs - and I would race almost every weekend.

Road riding is a bit less forgiving, even at slow speeds concrete and asphalt are very damaging to body and machine....and cars and trucks even more so.  I honestly don't know how you can become a really good rider if you only do pavement - but I know there are folks who are successful at it.

The only way to get to be a better rider....is to get out and ride.  Don't just ride in a straight line down the highway however, as that teaches you very little.  Ride on twisty roads, hilly roads, gravel roads, bumpy roads....start out slow and go faster as your ability increases.  Riding needs to become something that is a reflex.......and you don't have to think about it.....it just happens.  Try to find an experienced rider to help you, and go buy a dirt bike if you want to learn quickly!

I dropped and tore up my S40 going up a steep narrow unfamiliar road in the dark a while back.

Didn't have time to get askeert, but plenty of time to get pissed thinking about the laundry list of bad moves that led to a downed bike in the pitch dark.

Fortunately I got everything bent and taped back together except for a new right mirror mount / brake reservoir clamp and a new brake lever -- about $60 for OEM parts.

Now I am more alert about setting up situations like that. Live & learn, brother.