I posted the question "why can't I answer my own questions, like I can on quora" and the obvious answer, after going through all the answers was...spammers and bots of spammers using the feature as a way to get upvotes.
Will steemit and musing ever be able to compete on a real knowledge level when we see the platform adjusting itself to prevent this type of bahaviour rather than getting rid of the behavior and allowing the platform t be the best it can be. I hope that was a clear as mud:)
Yes actually, the STEEM blockchain is currently undergoing a significant amount of development to combat these things. The developments that are currently in the works are called Communities, SMTs, and Oracles. Essentially these tools should empower communities or groups (such as musing.io) to put Oracles in place, which are sort of like curators, and they can reward valuable content and choose to exclude content from their communities based on their own guidelines and sets of rules. You can find out more about these developments that are currently underway at: https://smt.steem.io/