This reminds me of Charlie Munger's quote, "Show me the incentive and I'll show you the outcome”. Charlie has a keen understanding that human behavior is defined by those acting in their self-interest. Is this self-interest "greed"? Having this discussion (or debate) without clearly defining the term I fear would result in people talking past each other.

I think you'd both agree that stacker news and the value-enabled web changes the incentive structure. Self-interest doesn't change, but the incentives in this community align to the SN community and bitcoin values: sharing BTC info, helping others, and contributing.

While this community would still thrive in without zaps (see Reddit), I would expect to see a far more engaged membership contributing a far higher quality of content.