> One can use built-in constructs like for loops in vanilla JS to update multiple DOM nodes at once

That's not the kind of use case that'd require React. I think we're on the same page that for the majority of apps, that setup is overkill. I'm just pointing out that there are apps with complex use cases where the "see where this is going" will end up being more elegant/simpler than fleshing out your own constructs (certainly more than a for loop)