The chances of food borne illness is relatively low overall. The guidelines are what they are because of being ultra safe. Also, highly dependant on the type of food your leaving out.
If you leave out a sandwich made from store-bought full of junk bread, processed meats, a kraft single cheese slice and your basic hellmans mayo, you could leave that on the counter overnight and not have much of an issue thanks to all the garbage preservatives in it.
homemade bread, real cheese, a nice chunk of beef from the roast you got from your neighbor and cooked last night, plus homemade mayo.... yeah, eat that s*** quick.