Actually I can think of a few psychological reasons, but to address the concern you brought up, I'm trying to reach out to those likeminded people who might agree that less unnecessary clutter would make the forums more attractive, even though it's not a big deal since those forums are obscured from view by default anyway. At any rate, people sharing this viewpoint may not exist, and it's obvious that the majority doesn't care either way so this OFFICIAL MOTION isn't going anywhere, but thanks for offering your opinion on the matter, IRG, it is after all what I was looking for, and now I know where you stand when it comes to the Cog forum.
Looks like we're not going down after all, so nevermind.