Vanity is a powerful force. When I was younger and actually blogging, the numbers (views, links, comments) were the exciting bit. They really kept me going. I was blogging for simple popularity, not altruism.

The maturity to shrug off this need for validation reaches some faster than others. I broadly agree that GA-level stats aren't helpful, but also if you're going into writing, having feedback mechanisms can help, even if it's just a hit of dopamine when you boastfully weather Digg and /. at the same time.