Quote - No offense, but you have to use a light meter.  

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I want to help you guys achieve PERFECTION. Listen to me. 

 

You are obviously enthusiastic, which is great, but perhaps you need to figure all this out a little more before you get too evangelical.

 

Quote - Do this, go into photoshop and take every render you've done and load it.  Then click "auto contrast".  If you notice a lighting change it means you didn't use a light meter to properly light your scene.  If you don't notice a change in lighting it means you did a great job with lighting.

And try this little test: Open these two images in photoshop and click "auto contrast" and see how the lighting changes:

http://www.scenicreflections.com/files/White_cat_in_snow_Wallpaper_eux3j.jpg

http://www.insanewallpapers.com/wallpapers/snow_white_cat-1366x768.jpg

Does this mean the photographer 'didn't use a light meter to properly light the scene?' No. It means the photographer was smart enough to know when to use his own judgement and ignore what the tool was trying to tell him.

It's a bit like those people you hear about who want to drive 2 blocks to the store but they blindly follow the instructions their GPS is giving them until they are 300 miles into the wilderness. Tools are fine, but they are like employees, you need to stay in charge of them. Once you assume they know what they are doing or let them run the show things turn bad. 

 

Quote - A lot of you are talented and have a GOOD eye, chances are you guys nail the lighting most of the time. But why not be 100% thorough?

You are advocating being 100% thorough but you are working on an uncalibrated monitor which 'tends to show things darker'?