You are right at this point.
Users have their own rights and decisions to use their sMerits, holding them forever (till Theymos decide decaying un-used sMerits) or sending them to any one, any topic, any thread they agree with and think that those ones are merit-deserved.
And, @satoshi is one of the most prestigious guys in crypto world. He/she/they obviously deserve/s tons of merits.
People paying respect to Satoshi is not wasting of merit.
It's only an assumption, which might happen or not. Personally, I think we should stick on current situation, rules, systems, etc. of the forum in our discussion.
Keep in mind that theymos can generate infinite amount of smerit.