Basic Volume pots

[liquids]

Reference this page  http://www.beavisaudio.com/techpages/Pots/, particularly the heading 'A Volume Control'

I'm working on wiring up some of my own designs and have been wrestling with a thought...I know--dangerous! 

Why do we wire volume pots this way?  I mean, other than because that's they way they are on the schematic. 

With the standard volume pot at the output, one wiper is 'seeing' the circuit output, the opposite wiper is going to ground, and the middle lug is going to the output. 

So, aren't we hence constantly 'splitting' the total pot resistance between resistance of signal to ground vs 'series' resistance? 

On the breadboard when I've been too lazy to wire up a pot, I just run a reasonably small sized resistor (depending on the circuit) to send a fair amount of signal to ground...

Likewise, it's my understanding that the series resistance is why--the lower you set the volume pot, the more loss of high end, resulting in the common use/benefits of a small cap to 'preserve' high end across a passive control....

Why don't we wire volume controls strictly as having a variable resistance to ground without the series resistance?  It seems to work in theory to my amateur mind, but in practice I'm not sure...

So those with experience and understanding, would that really work?  If so, does it reduce the disproportionate 'high end attenuation' of passive volume controls even slightly?  Are there any other disadvantages to wiring them this way?