Thanks, @timcliff, for the thoughtful response.
I must confess that I lack detailed knowledge of exactly how the payout algorithms function. And so I'll retreat to commenting that I think any adjustment that would improve the rewards balance in the direction of curation would be beneficial to Steemit. If that means somehow adjusting what constitutes "enough SP to earn curation rewards" to make that an accessible threshold for anyone, maybe that should be on the table.
I think it would be a huge draw for people who would realize that the "wisdom of the crowd" represented in part by their opinion could translate into financial rewards.
Simultaneously, it would encourage creators of excellent content to continue to produce worthy material because they would have an ever-growing readership.
I would love to hear some proposals to achieve this. I agree, this would be a huge plus!