A lot of good questions, and this is a good thing. Only by asking questions can we conceive of answers.

I am not terminally discouraged with Steemit. Not so long ago I suggested to @berniesanders that he'd profit more himself and the platform if he and others with substantial holdings made moderate delegations for no more than the curation rewards such delegations might bring, because that would greatly improve the reach of his SP as curative, and encouragement to new users. Their gain of SP through the upvotes his delegations would enable would cause upwards pressure on the price of Steem, and if enough of that pressure were applied, he'd gain great ROI from capital gains alone. And, he didn't flag me!

I see today that he is maintaining course however, and neither does that discourage me, because whales flagging each other is GREAT for minnows, as that leaves more rewards on the floor beneath the whales' table for us to share.

I have long noted that despite such incivility as can be witnessed on Steemit, it is without a doubt the most civil social media platform I have ever visited, and even despite it retains the ability to be anonymous. This puts paid to the myriad claims that anonymity inevitably causes ordinary people to become the most vicious trolls.

The reason for the civility is the potential for rewards. Folks, even inveterate trolls, want to be rewarded more than they are willing to trash their account by being trash themselves. It's a powerful human trait that Steemit harnesses for the good of all concerned.

Note that it isn't stake-weighting that produces this effect, but merely rewards. I reckon stake-weighting is the cause of all worldly woes, ice cream melting, and why I don't have a Boxster to leave to my posterity, but no one really cares that I that I think that.

A look around, from time to time, on the web, assures me that Steemit remains the best game in town yet.

As for proof of brain, you have done it with this post, and I have with this comment. More than that isn't necessary IMHO to the platform. The financial manipulations aren't really proof of brain, but instead failures of it. Steemit is a damn fine experiment, and it has succeeded.

It may yet succeed far more, perhaps beyond the wildest dreams of any of us living today.

I hope so.

Thanks!