Upon reading what you wrote, a light bulb lit up in my head. Also quite directly related to the core question of this thread.
My hypothesis, we who are passionate about this audio hobby like the incremental progress. 5% improvements, and then 5% more improvements, and more and more. We don't get bored of the repetitiveness and actually enjoys the process. I can't speak for everyone but I'm certainly this way.
I'd also like to see a study on a person's EQ (emotional quotient) vs their involvement in the hobby.