We can spill a lot of ink going back and forth, but honestly? At the end of the day, "this seems like useless bullshit" is actually a really good instinct.

I know that sounds a tad anti-intellectual, but I think HFT for market making is one of those cases where very smart people delude themselves out of an obviously correct instinctive understanding of the truth.

But we can dive down the rabbit hole if you want.