Many more people would use formatting if it was WYSIWYG. This doesn't mean that content and presentation can't be kept separate behind the scenes. It just means the average user should be shielded from the markdown. At the very least, they generally shouldn't have to type it out. There should be formatting buttons above the post so users can highlight text within the post and click a button to apply markdown corresponding to the desired formatting. Again, that would enable more people to use formatting. And save everyone else time. Anyway, I assume something like that is in the works.