Where am I inaccurate please? I have not shown a good deal of data and not shared a good amount of background to hopefully make the original post shorter. Most of what drives people to get better is a psychological connection between how they value themselves in the game and their time, but more importantly, how much they value what they will get in return for that work.

The problem here is that you're trying to drive a connection between self-worth, time valuation, and self-improvement... with a video game. It's entertainment; for fun. Not work. Your post is a jumbled mess of apples and oranges.

Except that it’s not apples and oranges. It’s centered on a view where joy and fun are derived from a kind of valued time. Your brain can and will experience the same chemical changes when you earn a promotion at work to when you earn Thorn for the first time. The comparison I draw is that if you don’t earn the promotion and if Thorn is just given to you and anyone who asks for it, then you do not feel the same value from either.

Granny Smiths and Clementines