Many is somewhere north of 200. Many of us are routinely on 400 and more.
As for why, I at least consider the computer an extension of my mind. What it remember, I don't have to.
Edit: Chrome can handle way more than that, it just becomes very tedious when you cannot see the tabs. Also I don't know if omnibar can search for open tabs like awesomebar?
Bookmarks are only the coldest of storage for me, with exception of bookmarks bar where I place often accessed web sites.
At least with the work I do it isn't alway obvious what is going to be useful or not. But while I don't have a photographic memory (quite the contrary) I'm often able to figure out approximately where to look and also able to find it there.
I'd even recommend you try it. If it works for a simple farmer turned engineer like me, think what it could do for a smart person like you! ;-)
Tabs are supposed to be short-lived, ephemeral things. Bookmarks have the functionality you want
I suggest you take a step back and reconsider both:
- computers as bicycles for the mind. If it can do so much for me, think what you could achieve!
- how you interact with others.
PS: no, "close other tabs" doesn't scare me. If I have to close down something I don't feel I have finished yet I can select that subtree and export it to the clipboard as a nested markdown list which I paste into Joplin where it is searchable.
Also if I accidentally close down something I can just press ctrl - shift - t the required number of times, alternatively ctrl - shift - n if a whole window has been closed.