"My thinking then and now is the major value of being so aggressive/loose is that people won't respect my bets as much and I can bet made hands. Is this wrong?"

no thats a fine way to play if your smart about it, it can be very profitable, just will have a lot of swings

Im not sure why u felt the need to call if u were sure he made his straight, thats what i dont agree with. You made a crying call and sucked out, but nice pot