I've no argument with the severance cash, I'm saying that you can't just revert to a hobby because you have an "income for life."

The uncertainty means you're still out on the job market looking for a real job.

There's perhaps significantly lower total compensation and potential uncertainty. A lot of people just aren't in the position to travel the world (or whatever) for a year. Or even work on an open source project that may or may not even be within the bounds of the non-compete depending in the company.