Would 4chan exist without /b/?

/b/ is by far 4chan's most popular board - threads on 4chan's other boards last at least 12 hours while threads on /b/ are lucky to last 12 minutes before being bumped off, and /b/ has probably had more posts than all other boards combined. 4chan's "public image" is entirely /b/, and the video from 4chan's Otakon meeting reinforces that image.

So why even have the other boards (anime, auto, nature & wildlife, etc)? It seems like they are just an excuse to legitimize 4chan. A selection of boards like http://www.gopvt.net/ (cats, harbl, memes, etc) would be much more appropriate.

/b/ is the core of what makes 4chan so popular.

The general browsing habit on 4chan is for someone to visit /b/, then a handful of the other boards that they find personally interesting.

My list is:
/b/
/gif/
/hr/
/wg/

Someone elses might look like:
/b/
/a/
/p/

And of course some people won't have /b/ on their list, but most do.

Also, the idea that people who post in /b/ are different to those that post on the rest of the site is crap, it's just that people behave differently on /b/. This is a good thing. It's probably why the rest of the forums can be kept to diverse and civil, since /b/ functions as an outlet.