OK I think I'm seeing the method behind the madness. I have popop notifications set for everything EXCEPT for replies to my own threads, which I've set for email notfications.
Now when i view the Discussions page, that tells me the latest activity in all threads I've started. And the Notifications link in the upper left will let me know if I have any replies/comments in a thread that I have posted in, but not started. If there are no notifications ((I can see that in an instant), then I don't have to wonder if anyone has replied or not.
OK so I still can see, on one page, what replies I have yet to view.