Just last night (my time), I was meditating on this very issue.
I copped a number of dv's yesterday and it appeared to me because it was I voted and commented on someone else's post that they have a beef with. The account started following me, and I thought, 'great, does that mean I'm just now on some automatic dv-bot?!'
But looking at the actual effect of the dv was meaningless. It hardly made a dent in value terms; but it was the feeling of being targetted, rather than a value judgement of my content, that bothered me. So I sat with that... and realised I don't actually care. There is nothing it actually does that has any significance in the real world.
In the Steem world, yes; but not in the real world. I too see Steem as a cybernetic, self-governing organism. This is the process of homeostasis... understanding this is when I changed my views on flagging.
Yes, there are going to be 'free radicals' in the system... but nothing an anti-oxidant can't handle!!
😊🙏🏽☯️