I'm not a thru hiker, probably never will be....but, this whole discussion is kinda funny to me. I think it's congenitally impossible for me to "follow the beaten path." (Or the blazed path?) I lose the trail when I'm on a day hike with regularity. "Oh there's an interesting butterfly, let's get closer to it and get a good look!" Then the next thing you know I'm in the middle of the woods somewhere. I was taking a day hike near High Point New Jersey on the AT last summer which is probably about as well-marked as one could imagine and I couldn't manage to stay on the "white blazed" trail.
If I'm moseying along in the woods I don't want to necessarily stay exactly on "the trail" anyway. I just try to use things like blazes to orient myself and (along with compass of course) make sure I'm going generally in the right direction. If there's an obstacle that seems intimidating I try to figure out if the marked trail is the best/safest way or maybe there's a slight detour that's easier on the knees and/or a little bit safer looking.
For my money anyone who can hike 2,000 anywhere deserves a great big patch.