If post counts truly don't matter to people, then we should never see another milestone thread ever again. If I see a milestone thread, I'm going to assume the number of posts you have means something to you and you're essentially being a hypocrite when you say otherwise. Why should I congratulate you on something you deem to be insignificant? I didn't do a milestone thread when I hit 1000, because first of all, I didn't care and secondly, I didn't see the point in celebrating a year of overall mediocrity on my part.
The nuts and bolts of this argument is not about whether people think post count reflects a member's value to the site. It's about the "earthquake rule" and trying to deter a certain type of posting behavior. I'm just wondering if taking away the counts from the PL actually achieved its desired effect or not. If it didn't, then what's the harm in reinstating them?