I agree 100%, though I am interested in chains which are doing "Proof of useful work". I haven't looked into it too much, but I believe Banano participants run folding@home (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folding%40home) to secure their network.

This seems like it could be an alternative to classical proof of work that at the very least, isn't actively harmful to society. But I'm unsure if it offers the same security guarantees.