Well, I will say that some of what I found made a certain sense to me. The polishing effect I expected to see, to one extent or another. Ya'll might think I'm nuts, but I'm somewhat fixated on this idea that low moh's values treatments still have some kind of effect. At what level, and through what medium, I'm not altogether clear on, beyond a vague idea of "plastic flow". Whatever it is, I think it's at the heart of the stropping effect. And as Steve's aluded to, it may or may not play a role in the honing effect as well.
What surprised me was the edge deterioration, and so quickly. I wasn't really expecting such an immediate dulling effect. I guess that the stone released so much slurry and not being balanced by any abrasive qualities, as soft as it was (I'm assuming a high talc content soap-stone), it was still enough to reduce the edge keenness.... Which is pretty much what Bart said.
I keep playing these little mind movies over and over again in my head, trying to visualize what was going on on a scale I find hard to encompass, and I'm struggling to understand a bit more about the interplay of different things and how it comes into play on the edges.... whatever, it's all in fun

I've surely had my respect for the particular values of a good coticule reinforced, that's for sure.
YCP, (

)
-Chris