Difference between your time and his, is that his situational awareness is much higher, as is his level of profficency and experience. You can multiply this even more when you start talking about teaching instrument students and multi engine.

Honestly, while sharp student like you were a pleasure to teach, they were also pretty boring. Yes, I would go dozens of hours without touching the controls. The CFI is there for the problem children or to find out where his limits are and gain the experience of handling a multitude of problems. Students do stupid things, and usually at the worst time, that is where the quality time an instructor builds is.