Good post @snowflake . For me the money is an incentive but the real draw for me was the technology and the community. I wrote a post today about why I joined Steemit and my experience in my first month (I wont share the link here because I think you already upvoted it, thanks btw!) I have a really positive outlook for the future, and share much of Your sentiment. I don't really worry about rewards, I just focus on creating interesting engaging content for my followers and the community. Being selected for the daily curie is more rewarding than getting a huge payout IMO. I do find the less I worry about money the better my posts are. I also like to use rewards to "give back" I host cryptography challenges and give out prizes, it's a fun way to connect with my followers and get people interested in cryptography. People can also sponsor my challenges by covering a portion of the prize, then I advertise their blog. It is a way where everybody wins and people work together. I am still looking for a sponsor for cryptography challenge #3. Thanks for your post, your positive attitude and your investment in the future!