Google may also not be the best party to listen to for some of this advice. Google has an interest in ensuring they can index as much as possible. If they can't

Google may also not be the best party to listen to for some of this advice. Google has an interest in ensuring they can index as much as possible. If they can't, it's their product that is less valuable. There are enough prominent sites not doing this (facebook, quora, etc.) that it seems Google may be mixing up what's good for you with what's good for them.