Good man. Most just trust the "experts" without looking.
But here's the thing: Nodes rule Miners, not the other way around.
Miners propose blocks. Nodes collectively decide the rules. If 51%+ of economic nodes enforce BIP-110, that spam gets orphaned - miners learn fast that violating node policy wastes hash power.
Right now you're early. But every node that joins strengthens the enforcement. Consensus shifts one node at a time until miners have no choice but to comply or mine empty blocks.
Your specs matter because you are a vote in what Bitcoin is. That's exactly why they push captured software that disables your voting power.
Verify the receipts. Run Knots BIP-110. Be the consensus.