Yes, but there was a time where you didn't understand the risks of those things, either...so you learned, just as you are now with something different. It's all totally normal...and prudent, which is a good thing that you're showing here.
Really the risks are pretty small, but they aren't zero, and we're dealing with more packed energy than an alkaline or a watch battery, so respect and caution is good but I think as more of all these particulars sink in for you, you'll find that there's no reason to be scared. Don't go putting a cell in a vise or driving nails through them, and if you ever get a light that uses more than one cell, do observe the minor cautions there about discharge limits and not mixing cell types and whatnot, but overall with normal use and care, no worries. And a lot of our best-practice rules with cells have as much to do with getting the most life/most power from them, too, not just any inherent risks.
Dropping isn't usually unsafe at all, just the risk of making the light not work. With most lights the host provides more than enough protection for the cells and unless it's a really hard impact directly on one end the spring(s) are usually enough to cushion the cells from taking damage that way although it's possible that they could get dented or the driver in the head could get cracked/damaged in some way. With the low voltages we deal with here, flickering electronics aren't really a safety issue but I suppose with some designs there would be the potential for a short to cause unregulated current to flow...which would mean heat output...not so good for pockets or inside of backpacks or possibly the electric components with high powered lights. Like with some recent ones people had buttons stick in the on position or poorly made LED connecting wires that let the light run free...not from a drop but the same results essentially.
Now...if you drop a battery and it gets damaged from the impact, then some caution is prudent. The metal cans they are made from are quite thin, so they're easy to dent, and if that dent is deep enough it can push together the layers (jelly roll) inside and possibly cause a short, which would make the cell heat up, probably vent a little gas from the positive end, and hopefully not any worse (usually not any worse). In the CPF thread you linked (again, different type of battery there) he said the positive end of the battery hit hard and dented. Since that area is where + and - meet close together, there's a lot of potential for an accidental short to occur. There's a thin rubber gasket that separates the + and - in addition to the plastic wrapper on the cell that provides some insulation/separation. If the metal were crushed so much as to make the two meet, then you get a short. Or it could crush inwards and damage the CID protection foil or just separate the + end from its crimp, exposing the guts to oxygen. Again, usually a small risk/effect, but it's there. This is largely true for NiMH and NiCd cells, too, even silver oxide cells, but we just pack more punch into lithium-ion cells. So try not to drop cells and if you do, let them sit for a second before picking them up, and then inspect them for damage. Little dents are often just fine (and in fact, some lights will dent the ends of cells just from normal use if they're just a tad too long for its design). If the wrapper got torn, it's easy and smart to change that and you can buy wrappers super cheap, just takes a couple minutes to do that. If the cell starts to get warm or hot after a drop, chuck it outdoors onto concrete or something, just in case, but you're not usually going to see that. Again, if a light is dropped then the cell(s) inside are normally not at risk.
The everyday products you mention still have risk, too, of course. I'm sure you've seen many news stories over the years of laptops or scooters or juice packs erupting in flame or melting the devices. Most of those these days are a different lithium type but there are still several. Basically it's the same things happening where impact may cause a short...although shoddy electrical designs cause a lot of that as well, and even devices with built in protection circuits of varying types are not totally immune from risks...the combination of engineering and protections just minimize them to where hopefully it's just accident/abuse that causes problems.
For me, long ago I just adopted a policy of caution and observation - respect - for anything battery powered. I once pried open a tiny LR44 silver oxide watch battery just to see what was in there. Black dirt, basically...not so exciting. I put it in the trash can and moments later was headed out the front door to go do something. I smelled something...smelled like burning paper...and I'll be damned but the little opened battery in the trash can had gotten so hot with exposure to oxygen that it began to burn the paper towel that it was wrapped in! Glad I caught that before I left. Avoidable? Totally. Between that and some oopses while disassembling lithium battery packs and the many many stories of battery accidents over the years, I just pay attention now in how I handle them, stay present when recharging them, etc, etc. It's easy and while maybe not necessary or sometimes a slight hassle, it's prudent just in case. No fear, just a healthy respect (although I probably should have been afraid in the past, seeing as though I acted pretty boldly at times....). :)