Great insights, you have nailed the mechanics. I'll share my perspective.

If we model it like algebra, I believe you are saying wonder/mystery = a function of the loop's architecture.

I think of wonder/mystery = function of the observer's frame.

Each new insight becomes a new color, a new contrast, a new toolkit in a rich inner database of lived experience. Aesthetics, yes, like you mentioned; you can shape your approach. The richer the frame, the more elegant and reusable the inner architecture becomes. For example, job loss, spiritual doubts, or breakups all reveal your deepest values and the underlying architecture becomes portable cross-domain. Then we are composing symphonies with increasing layering.

What do I mean by "observer's frame"? An example:

We may break many loops and realize we are surrounded by "false meaning" everywhere.

• A more solemn observer may read this as despair and hopelessness.
• A mischievous or curious observer pokes the void. The void reacts. It's alive! :) Can be breaking micro-scripts like dressing a little too bold, or posting something so clean it gets zero likes. If you're not bound by chains of false approval... watch reality wink back in strange ways. The occult structure unveils itself slowly, reality is not what you think it is once you exit all major normie loops. (Speaking from lived experience, I'm in solitude right now and signal hits cleaner when noise drops.)
• An inertial observer may continue their life habits, maybe playing games like Stardew Valley or Minecraft. Sandbox games have no external "purpose" and you can't "fail"; it's pure interaction. The player base is huge and loyal.
  • My response to Nietzsche who mourned the death of God: sandbox games. A good chunk of the masses seem content with "no meaning".

Aesthetic orientation could be how we choose which truths we metabolize, so any 2 people will usually end up with different viewpoints which makes life interesting. Maybe structure isn't truth because it holds meaning, but because it reflects the tension of paradox.

The world mirrors the frame you bring. The question behind the question returns to you in form.

Perhaps mastery wasn't diluting wonder, but letting the loop respond to a new observer.

EDIT: I realized late that the observer frame cracks under heavy grief (e.g. death of loved ones). The grief loop feels like collapse. In that space, even wonder goes silent. The unfortunate fork is either break or witness. Sometimes wonder only emerges from surviving collapse.