I agree with you interpretation, I just don't agree with the logic that if developers are too lazy to handle exceptions, they will do the alternative (checking and handling return values) correctly, since it is just as easy to ignore an error code return value than it is to ignore an exceptions.

And if we agree that lazy developers might not handle every error, the "default case" with ignoring exception (the exception propagates to the top and kills the program) is much preferable than the default case without: the program state becomes corrupted, but the program keeps running.

Another point: Exceptions are not for cases which can be handled as part of the normal flow. Rather they are for exceptional cases which requires you to break out of the current context and handle the error on a higher level. So if you use exceptions correctly they don't break encapsulation, rather they help encapsulation since you can handle errors at the appropriate level.