By removing the fan leaves, you're removing the most prouctive part of the plant above the soil. Sure, we obviously saw a picture of buds grown on a plant with no fan leaves. But keep in mind the plant would have been much greater had he not removed the very unit of production. How does a plant live? Photosynthesis. Where does photosynthesis take place? Surface area of the plant that receives light. What part(s) of the plant hold the most surface area? Leaves. Healthy, green, full leaves. Take away what the plant uses to grow and it'll, well, not grow. You can show me as many pictures of hacked up plants missing fan leaves as you want, the truth is all of those plants have been robbed of their true potential. You can also try to argue with me but you can't argue with science. Have different ideas about how a plant grows? Take it up with mother nature.