There's a lot in what you said. One element that people often overlook is that our posts and comments are not isolated. It wouldn't make sense to treat them as though they were.

Through our repeated interactions with each other reputations and relationships develop. There's no mystery in why that translates into zaps and it isn't a problem either. There are people I zap more, because I'm glad they choose to regularly make content here and behave in a way that brings me value. They aren't all OG stackers either.

This is all part of the proof of work paradigm. It isn't that each entry stands on its own. The body of work is cumulative.