I need to write this down on paper and pencil and digest

That, and posting about it, would probably be helpful.

That's pretty much what I was referring to when I was commenting about marginal value and such, and one can turn some of this into fairly simple equations that could help improve understanding. I'm as guilty of anyone of throwing a lot of opinions around without really doing the "homework".

The thing about most (not all) of the milking/self-voting posts is they actually have some positive value to Steem, it is just that they are grossly over-rewarded. And many sincere (not intended as milking) contributions likewise have very low value. If they are getting nothing, that can be improved, but if they are getting too much, that's not good either. As with most economics, the questions are more on the margin than of absolutes.