Peter Dohm writes:

Perhaps, since you are not really using it as a simulation in preparation
for a flight. OTOH, you found one.

It looks as though throttles are often side by side in real aircraft
as well, so presumably one moves them as a unit most of the time,
unless there's a specific reason to adjust one throttle alone.

One thing about the sim is that throttles are always perfectly locked
together. I don't know how easy that is to manage in real life,
unless an aircraft has some sort of locking system to ensure that all
throttles move in exactly the same way.

I've heard that very small differences in throttle settings can reduce
economy, and that FADECs automatically eliminate discrepancies in
order to improve fuel economy.

Thus simulating nothing.

Not quite. Some things that are time-consuming in the sim would be
extremely fast and easy in real life. Thus, pausing the sim to carry
them out is actually more realistic than doing them in real time.

For example, feathering a single prop requires bringing up the
throttle panel, placing the mouse on the prop lever, and rolling it
downwards towards the feather position. In real life, it would be one
very simple and quick movement. Doing it in the sim takes time that
wouldn't be taken up in real life, and thus reduces realism. Pausing
the sim makes the timing closer to real life.

The main reason for throttle quadrants is to avoid the problem above.
Adjusting throttles in MSFS is very awkward without an actual throttle
quadrant, and throttle adjustments are so frequent in real life that
having a moveable throttle lever enhances realism enough to make it
cost-effective. This is dramatically less true for prop and mixture
levers.

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