ORIGINAL: pe reivers
Oil has many functions in an engine. That's why I like a bit more, and it sure does not hurt performance.
That may be true, but there's another aspect to consider...
Apart from nitromethane, oil is the most expensive component of our fuels.
If you (arguably) reduce the life of your engine by 10% by running (say) 5% less oil then in most cases, long before you get anywhere near wearing out your engine, you'll have saved enough money to buy a brand new one.
As I've found, there are very definite economic advantages to running a lower oil percentage.
If people want to run high-oil ratios for some reason that's fine, but I'd prefer to spend my money on something other than propping up the profits of the oil-vendors by using too much.