RE: Curation: 1st result from my data sample
Unless this is your alt account and you have a bigger account where curation really matters I would not be stressing out curation earnings. Even with 633 SP, I don’t care about it. It is one lower amount of profits I make in a week for things. When I was new I tossed around my voting like confetti. It did more for me in the long run then trying to earn curation rewards ever did. Unless you are being reward by a content that is paying you nicely for trying max out curation rewards.
My rewards come from commenting, engagement, and blogs. The lowest paying thing on that list is curation.
Also if you have not read the FAQ that might help shed a little bit of light. But I have a feeling you already have based on what you have sated already in this blog.
Such as “therefore upvoting at 15 minutes old will donate half of your potential curation reward to the author.” https://steemit.com/faq.html#How_is_the_reward_pool_split_between_authors_and_curators
Curation rewards even if I become a dolphin one day might not be a big deal to me. I’m just not sure it ever will so I do not stress over it once bit.
You are totally right that I probably never earn a material amount with curation. Most people earn less than 1SP per 1,000 SP (is that called 1 promille in English?).
So it's actually a combination of things why I spend so much time in learning how it precisely works. Most important are that I really like numbers, mathematics and economy. And I like to win contests. And I believe I have a fair chance to win the weekly curation league. So for now I keep trying a few more weeks.
Of course suggestions for other things to learn are welcome. But there's still a lot on my list