It does depend on how you look at it, as the fact is that Ethereum still works (whether it's a lower form or whatever you would like to say because it's no longer POW), it just works differently. One can look at it as trade-offs as per relates to the the blockchain trilemma (, where scalability, decentralization and security are very difficult to achieve fully and perfectly, this even applies to. Bitcoin) prioritizes security and decentralization with POW, while Ethereum prioritizes scalability with POS. OrEthereum marketed itself primarily surrounding its smart contract feature, you can look at your way, which is seemingly absolutechoosing POS was the right move to ensure that anythingthis feature and all that issurrounded it could scale. I'd not POW is lower (your right to thinkcall that the choice to transition to POS to become "a lower form", but doesnI't meand call that it's correct)a move that was required for their survival, and a good example of the trilemma.

It does depend on how you look at it, as the fact is that Ethereum still works (whether it's a lower form or whatever you would like to say because it's no longer POW), it just works differently. One can look at it as trade-offs as per the blockchain trilemma (where scalability, decentralization and security are very difficult to achieve fully and perfectly, this even applies to Bitcoin). Or, you can look at your way, which is seemingly absolute that anything that is not POW is lower (your right to think that, but doesn't mean that it's correct).