I have still yet to see the exact equation for how curation is actually calculated. We all seem to know the general rule though: if you want higher curation rewards you should vote before everyone else around the 15 minute mark.

Curation then partakes in the whole Greater Fools Theory where the ones who voted first are gambling that enough votes will follow them to make it a financially viable play.

The entire basis of curation is a fallacy. It depends on users either casting votes foolishly or altruistic users that are willing to take the loss. However, if you're willing to take the loss then ironically you wouldn't want to be voting on a high payout post to begin with unless you actually wanted the underlying curators to make money.

This happens to me a lot. I'll see a post with a high payout (often upvoted by a bid-bot) and I no longer want to upvote that post because then the curation money is flowing to the vote sellers guild.

Did the higher payout of the post curate it and cause me to view it? No, I was going to see that post no matter what the payout value was because it was on my feed. Like many here, I rarely ever look at the trending/hot tab due to this whole broken situation we are in. In my opinion, you can only be pro-curation if you think the hot and trending tabs are working properly (quite a hard sell).

This is why it makes more sense to offer curation on resteems and to actually upgrade the feed so it has better options (like filters). The feed should act as a personalized and customizable trending tab.

Curation is the crux to how all inflation is distributed on the platform, yet no one seems to be demanding to see how it actually works. This information should be widely available and I have never seen it.

I know I sound like a broken record, so here is something new:
I invite curation to be changed to 50/50 because I know enough about it now to exploit it to the fullest. The only thing I require are enough stake holders who are in on the scam to ensure the vast majority of the curation reward gets scooped into our pockets. Maybe then this community will rethink their strategy for doubling down on a broken mechanic, hoping that will somehow correct the issue. (much like printing more SBD in an attempt to regulate the price)