Quote - My dilemma is this. If it's supposed to make renders look better why not force it by default?  I'm wondering if gamma correction is there just to FIX or REPAIR a scene that wasn't setup or lighted properly.

GC is turned on in the default scene of all versions of Poser Pro. For existing scenes that are loaded, Poser Pro will not force GC on them, because nothing is more frustrating than updating your software and having everything look completely different.

Quote - Is gamma correction truly amazing or is it just a bandaid to fix an improperly lighted scene?

In my personal opinion, it's a necessity.